


Mysteries of Hogwarts - Year 1

by serendipitymadness



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bullying, Characters to be added as story goes on, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Cursed Vaults, Duelling, Female Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Good Slytherins, Gryffindor, Half-bloods, Hogwarts Mystery - Freeform, Hufflepuff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentions of Harry Potter, Mentions of Voldemort, Muggles, NOT ALL SLYTHERINS ARE BAD, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Trauma, Pure-bloods, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, mentions of abuse, no relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-08-26 21:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16689421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitymadness/pseuds/serendipitymadness
Summary: All Abby Selwyn wanted when she started Hogwarts was to have a normal schooling experience. But she soon finds herself having anything but that when she goes head to head with school bully Merula Snyde in search of the Cursed Vaults to hopefully discover what lead to her older brother Jacob's infamous disappearance.





	1. Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Recently I’ve found myself becoming immersed with the Harry Potter world especially after I watched the series on TV. Hogwarts Mystery has only added more to my fascination, and since I’ve been wanting to write some Harry Potter for ages, I figured why not start with my own version of the game?  
> This story will take place before the Harry Potter series kicks off, since it will focus entirely on the events that occur throughout the game. It will primarily focus on my OC, Abby (who I named after myself for the fun of it) as she goes through her Hogwarts experience. There will be certain events added into the story just to add some more drama to it for my liking, so it won’t follow the game through and through.   
> As for the story itself, it will be split across seven separate stories, one for each year. I’m not sure how long this first story will be but it should be roughly around 20 or so chapters long. It’s worth mentioning that I am not claiming any ownership of the main events for the story, as they belong to J.K. Rowling and the creators of the game.
> 
> This story is also posted on my fanfiction.net account under the same name.

Sitting in his fathers office, fifteen-year-old Jacob Selwyn waited for the lecture that he was undoubtedly about to receive from his furious father. It had just been days ago when Jacob received his expulsion letter from Hogwarts after he risked endangering the students in his pursuit of the Cursed Vaults. Because of his expulsion, Jacob had already gotten his wand snapped and was awaiting further news from the Ministry.

Leaving Hogwarts had been the worst thing that had happened in Jacob’s life next to his mother passing away four years ago. Hogwarts had been the only place where Jacob ever felt like he could be himself, since he couldn’t do that at home after his mother died. His mother had been the most important person in Jacob’s life, closely followed by his younger sister, Abby. The reason Jacob never felt close to his father was because of his own personal views and the way he treated his little sister.

To the public eye, the Selwyn family was the epitome of your perfect pure-blood family. That was the furthest thing from the truth behind closed doors. The family patriarch, Rogelius Selwyn, was a pure-blood supremacist who openly supported Lord Voldemort in the first wizarding war, only getting away with three years in prison prior to his downfall. In the time that his father was in prison, Jacob found himself loving his homelife with just his mother and sister who became even closer to him in that time.

When his father was eventually released from prison, their family dynamic immediately went back to the tense way it was before he was imprisoned. It was something that Jacob had ignored at first, but he soon realised just how much his fathers stay in prison had affected his mother. Although Jacob didn’t want to admit it, he knew part of the reason for the rift between his parents that had been there for years. Ultimately, it came to a heat when Jacob’s mother unfortunately took her own life four years ago.

Because his father was a complete and utter prick, Jacob didn’t know about his mothers passing until he arrived home for Christmas break in his first year at Hogwarts. Ever since then, everything seemed to fall apart for Jacob. Looking back, Jacob could see that his mothers passing was what had made him become obsessed with the Cursed Vaults as he needed something to take his mind off of the grief that was consuming him. His search proved to be his undoing as Jacob ended up regretfully risking the lives of his fellow students which ultimately lead to his expulsion.

The doors to his fathers office opened and Jacob didn’t need to look to know that it was his father who angrily stomped his way into the room. Once Jacob looked into the eyes of his father, Jacob could see the anger seething from his fathers face and knew that this wasn’t going to be pretty.

“I received a letter from the Ministry. They want you to stand trial next week,” Rogelius stated. “Not only that, your face is now plastered all over Daily Prophet.”

With that, Rogelius slammed down the piece of paper in his hands on the desk. Even though Jacob had a fair idea of what it would entail, he still curiously looked over the table to see what lies had been written about him.

**_Jacob Selwyn expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry following his search for the Cursed Vaults._ **

_This isn’t the first time that the Selwyn family name has been seen in a negative light, not since family patriarch Rogelius Selwyn was sentenced to three years in prison for being an avid supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Now it seems as though Jacob Selwyn is taking a page from his fathers book after being expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for acts that endangered his fellow students. This definitely seems like a case of like father like son, considering his fathers past_

Not wanting to read anymore, Jacob pushed the copy of the Daily Prophet aside. If there was one thing that Jacob hated, it was being compared to his monster of a father. Putting the paper aside, Jacob looked back up and stared into his father’s steel eyes. This was the most rage that Jacob had ever seen coming from his father and from experience, Jacob knew that it was only going to get worse.

“Everything I did to restore our family’s good name thrown to trash because of your irresponsible actions! What were you thinking, you idiot?” Rogelius roared.

“I needed to find the Cursed Vaults,” Jacob simply replied.

Rogelius glared at his son, “Those were of no concern to you! I told you to leave them alone! Why don’t you ever listen to me, you insolent child?”

“Why should I listen to someone who commands respect but never gives it in return?” Jacob remarked.

“How dare you speak to me like that! I am your father and you should treat me as such!” Rogelius yelled.

Jacob scoffed, “That’s ironic coming from you, considering you have a daughter but you hardly treat her like she is yours.”

“That little brat is nothing but nuisance! All she has done is bring our family down. She is the reason your mother killed herself,” Rogelius seethed.

“That is not true and you know it, father. Mother killed herself because you had stopped treating her with love. You barely even looked at her like she was your wife. What you did destroyed her,” Jacob said, referring to his fathers actions that had basically torn their family apart.

“What I did was a mistake that never should’ve happened. Ever since then my life has been a crumpled mess as I’ve been trying to fix one after another to keep our family name intact,” Rogelius said.

“Am I supposed to feel sympathy for you, father? Because I don’t,” Jacob snapped as he got to his feet. “Everything that has happened to you has been your fault. You were the one who devoted yourself to that bald snake man and got yourself thrown into prison. You were the one who made the mistake that caused your wife to take her own life. That was all you, father.”

“Clearly I didn’t raise you with enough respect because that is not the way to talk about the great Lord Voldemort,” Rogelius shook his head in disapproval. “You have brought more shame than ever to our family name.”

“Your great ‘Lord Voldemort’ is hardly a person worthy of supporting considering he was defeated by a child who was barely a few months old,” Jacob remarked.

“I will not have a son like you soiling our family more than it already has been! Your actions leave me with very little options” Rogelius sneered.

“Then I guess I’ll make this easy for you,” Jacob stated as he turned to leave his fathers office. “Goodbye, father.”

“No. Jacob Horatio Selwyn, you get back here right now!” Rogelius demanded.

“No, father. I’m not taking anymore orders from you,” Jacob asserted himself. “I’m not going to sit here and let you treat me this way anymore. If it was an option, I’d take Abby with me but I unfortunately cannot do that. I hope she doesn’t have to suffer at your hands anymore than she already has.”

Just as Jacob could reach the door, Rogelius Selwyn yanked his wand out from his pocket and called out the Cruciatus Curse towards his son. Unable to defend himself without his wand, Jacob hissed in pain as he felt the curse come into contact with the skin on his torso. This wasn’t the first time where Rogelius had resorted to unorthodox methods like this against his son. But Jacob wasn’t about to have any of it anymore. This would be the last time that he’d allow his father to fire an unforgiveable curse at him.

Before his father could unleash another curse on him, Jacob successfully managed to slip through the door of his fathers office. When he did, Jacob was momentarily stunned to see his sister standing there before him.

“Father hurt you, didn’t he?” Abby asked timidly.

“Yes, he did,” Jacob replied, since there was no point in lying to Abby when this could quite possibly be the last time he spoke to his little sister. “Come with me, Abs.”

Following her brother, Jacob lead his sister to their favourite hiding place at Selwyn Manor that their father knew nothing about. It was just lucky fortune that they had stumbled across this place during one of their many explorations a few years ago. Now it had become a place for them to hide together in peace, away from their cruel father.

“I’m just letting you know that I have to go,” Jacob said as he clasped his sisters hands tightly.

“Why do you have to leave?” Abby asked, tears beginning to fall down her face which Jacob wiped away with his hand.

“I’m not wanted here anymore. I can stay in a place where I’ll be shunned,” Jacob replied.

“But I want you. I don’t shun you,” Abby insisted.

Jacob sighed, “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Abs. I don’t like this as much as you do but father has made it clear that he doesn’t want me here. He only wants me around to keep up our family pretence. But now I don’t care about keeping father happy anymore when he doesn’t care about my happiness.”

“But what about me?” Abby’s lip quivered.

“I don’t like leaving you alone with that man but this is something that I have to do. Please understand,” Jacob pleaded with her.

“I don’t want to but I think I do,” Abby whispered sadly.

“If you ever miss me, little sister, just come here and remember the good times we had with mother,” Jacob said as he pulled her in for a hug.

“I’ll miss you,” Abby cried.

“I’m already missing you. But we’ll see each other again one day when the time is right. Just be strong, little sister,” Jacob whispered.

“I’ll try. But I don’t think I’ll be as strong as you,” Abby murmured.

“You already are for what you have had to endure,” Jacob smiled sadly down at her, holding her face in his hands before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“Where will you go?” Abby asked.

“Somewhere I can be free. Somewhere I can be myself without worrying about pure-blood supremacy. Maybe one day you can come find me and we can be together again,” Jacob reassured her before pulling something out from his pocket. “I wanted to give you this before I left.

“Your family ring,” Abby gasped upon recognising the family heirloom.

“Yes, my family ring that is now yours. I want you to have it because no matter what father says, you are still family,” Jacob said as he put the ring in his sisters hands.

“I’ll wear it every day,” Abby promised.

“Just keep it away from father. He might take it away from you if he finds out that you have it and I don’t want him to do that,” Jacob told her.

Abby nodded, “Father will never know.”

“It’ll be our little secret, just like this place,” Jacob murmured as he gave her another hug, dreading the thought of saying goodbye to her.

“Don’t forget me,” Abby said.

“Like I could even try,” Jacob remarked.

“I’ll miss you, big brother,” Abby cried.

“I’ll miss you too, little sis. We’ll be together again one day, I promise,” Jacob whispered.

“I hope we are,” Abby murmured.

With that, Jacob gave her one last kiss on the forehead before disappearing from the room and out of Abby’s life for what she feared would be forever. Without Jacob around, Abby was scared to be alone with her father. He had never exactly been the fatherly type towards her or treated her the way she thought a father was supposed to treat his daughter. Now that Jacob was gone, Abby feared more than ever for what her father would do to her.

All Abby could do was hope that like Jacob had promised, that they would soon one day be reunited so that they could be together again. Perhaps Jacob leaving would be the pull that their father needed to start being more of the family man that he should be. Or maybe it would only make things worse for her and she’d be left wishing that Jacob had taken her with him. Despite her age at only nine-years-old, Abby knew that she would eventually find out the consequences of these actions and just hoped that they wouldn’t be too bad.


	2. Beginning of the Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Planning my stories ahead of time is something that I tend to do, and since my Hogwarts Mystery series will be split across seven chapters, this first year will consist of 14 chapters in total. This chapter takes place several years after the last one, since the timing of it is right before Abby begins her schooling which I’m really excited for.

At eleven-years-old, Abelia Selwyn was almost the spitting image of her older brother Jacobus Selwyn when he was her age. Sure, there was a part of her father in her looks, but her resemblance to Jacob was almost uncanny. To anyone that knew him, it was almost impossible not to see Jacob in his younger sister, Abby. But now she had no idea what her brother looked like, since it had been almost two years since Jacob infamously ran away from home.

Nowadays, his name was frowned upon anywhere in the wizarding world because of his actions surrounding the Cursed Vaults. That had certainly put a tinge of distaste on the Selwyn family name, much to Rogelius Selwyn's frustration. Although Abby knew that Jacob would most likely feel pride knowing that he had caused his father so much trouble after his sudden disappearance. As for Abby, all Jacob's disappearance had done for her was cause two years of anguish without having her brother in her life.

Before Jacob disappeared from home, it had just been the two of them along with their father Rogelius, who was a descendent from the Selwyn family belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But when Jacob left home, Abby was left alone to deal with her father's cruel and unorthodox methods of parenting which she hadn't yet faced while Jacob was there to protect her. Coming from the Selwyn family meant that Abby and Jacob were both pure-bloods, which was usually considered an honour in the wizarding world but Abby had never seen the advantage of having what was deemed to be 'pure' blood.

Belonging to the Selwyn family also meant that Abby and Jacob's full names were inspired by Roman words or names, since it was a common tradition amongst their family. It had been clear that Jacob despised his name, which was why he preferred to be called Jacob by everyone else. As for Abby, she just found her name to be disgusting and it had been Jacob who shortened it to Abby, which she had always seen herself as ever since. Their father had always called them by their first names, much to their ire.

Their family had certainly been through the wringer in the public eye, with Abby's father being exposed of working under the Dark Lord before his eventual downfall, which saw him sentenced to three years in prison. To Abby's surprise, her father had managed to convince the rest of the world that he had changed and was a different person. Behind closed doors, he was an entirely different person with the ways that he treated his family that were at times, abusive. Things only got worse when their mother, Constance, committed suicide after their fathers release from prison followed by Jacobs obsession with the Cursed Vaults, which had endangered the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

That was why it was somewhat of a surprise to Abby when she received her Hogwarts acceptance letter, since she almost doubted if they would even accept her because of her family's infamy. Nevertheless, Abby had been ecstatic at the thought of attending Hogwarts and the thought of being away from her father. Her father had actually been hesitant about letting her go, but after much convincing on Abby's part, he finally allowed her to go to the school and get her school supplies from Diagon Alley.

Visiting Diagon Alley had been something that Abby did with Jacob before every school year. The first time she set foot in there was when she was five and Jacob was eleven, right before his first year at Hogwarts. Whenever Jacob came home, he always had nothing but fascinating stories about the school to tell, which had only made Abby want to go even more. Despite that wish being granted, Abby still wished that she had Jacob here with her to experience this since it would have been his last year at Hogwarts. Now Abby was left to guide herself through the hectic parts of Diagon Alley.

Do not mess anything up. Her father had warned her before she left.

Not wanting to face her fathers wrath, Abby planned on doing just that. Except things around Diagon Alley had certainly changed since Abby's last visit, even though it had only been two years since she was last there. Most of the time that Abby did go to Diagon Alley, she always just let Jacob lead the way while she looked around, never really paying attention to what she was doing or where she was going. That was exactly what she was doing when she bumped into someone else, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Watch where you're going, brat," the woman who knocked her down sneered.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Abby apologised, not even bothering to argue with the woman for calling her a brat. She got called that at home enough to be used to it by now.

"Well, you should," the woman remarked.

"Careful, Sarah, it's that Selwyn girl," a man said to the woman.

The woman – Sarah – recoiled in disgust, "Ugh, what makes you think that you have the right to show your face around here after what your brother did?"

"I'm just getting my school supplies," Abby murmured.

"Ha!" Sarah cackled. "They really let someone like you into school considering your family's history?"

"How did you even know who I am?" Abby asked the man.

"They say that you looked like your brother, and I saw that boy in you as soon as I looked at you," the man replied.

"It's not nice to judge people without knowing them," Abby stated.

"What's there to know? That your father is a convicted Death Eater from a line of pompous pure-bloods who think that they're better than everyone else? I'd rather not know you," Sarah remarked.

"Let's go, Sarah," the man said, pulling her away.

Sighing, Abby went to pull herself up but faltered when she realised that she had dropped the money that she had been given. Since her father had only given her so much, Abby wasn't going to waste any of it which made her pick it up. Even though Abby came from somewhat of a rich family, her father had never handed her money on his own free will as he felt that she never deserved it, which Rogelius had constantly reminded his daughter.

As Abby picked up her money, she heard footsteps approaching her and hoped that it wouldn't be someone like that woman and man who only wanted to berate her because of her family. To Abby's surprise, she saw someone crouch down next to her and helped her pick up the money. At first, Abby thought that they were just stealing it but then they handed her the money that they had collected in their hand.

"Thank you," Abby said as she properly looked at the person who had come to her aid, only to see a girl with dark skin in black robes.

"No worries, I was happy to help!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm sorry that those people were rude to you."

"It's okay, you don't have to say sorry for them," Abby replied, appreciating the girls kindness.

"I'm Rowan Khanna!" the girl introduced herself with an outstretched hand for Abby to shake. "Are you getting read to start at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry too?"

"Yes, I am," Abby answered as she shook Rowan's hand. "But Diagon Alley is a bit confusing. It's been a while since I was here and when I was here, I hardly paid attention to where I was going. I've got so much to do and I'm not sure where to start…"

"I can help! If you want me to, of course," Rowan offered with a smile.

"I'd like that," Abby replied.

"Great! I've been reading Hogwarts: A History in anticipation of my first year, so I'm something of an expert on Hogwarts," Rowan proclaimed.

"It's always nice to have an expert around," Abby said.

"You should start by finding all of the books you need at Flourish and Blotts!" Rowan suggested.

"Would you like to come with me, Rowan?" Abby asked, wanting to feel more comfortable around Diagon Alley with someone by her side.

"I'd love to!" Rowan exclaimed.

Together with Rowan, Abby headed off to Flourish and Blotts to get her school supplies. The whole time, Rowan kept on listing any facts that she could think of or whatever she could say about her family which hardly left Abby with any time to talk about herself, which she was somewhat glad for since Abby hated talking about her family.

"Thank you for your help, Rowan. I was able to get all of my books," Abby said once they left Flourish and Blotts.

"Cool! I realised that I was so excited for Hogwarts that I forgot to ask your name…" Rowan trailed off expectantly.

"My name is Abby Selwyn," Abby introduced herself, nervous of how Rowan would respond to her family name.

"Pleasure to meet you, Abby," Rowan smiled.

"You too. I'm really excited to go to Hogwarts," Abby stated, happy that Rowan didn't seem bothered at all by her last name.

"I know! I haven't stopped reading my acceptance letter since I got it!" Rowan exclaimed. "Can I read yours?"

"Sure," Abby shrugged as she handed hers off to Rowan who happily read it.

"This is so exciting! I can't wait to get to Hogwarts. But I want to let everyone at Hogwarts know that I'm a serious intellectual who is on her way to becoming Head Girl," Rowan said.

"Maybe you should make a fashion statement?" Abby suggested.

"I did already get my supplies, and my mum did leave me with some extra money to buy something else… Should I get a smart scarf, a serious sweater or a cool hat?" Rowan asked.

"You said that you want to be a serious intellectual… so how about a serious sweater?" Abby replied.

"Great idea! Sweaters make anyone look smart. And, they're good for when it gets cold!" Rowan exclaimed.

"I should probably get my wand as well…" Abby trailed off, suddenly remembering that she'd forgotten probably the most important thing.

"While I get my clothes, you should get your wand from Ollivanders!" Rowan suggested.

"I'll do that. See you later, Rowan," Abby said as she headed towards Ollivanders.

Even though Abby had just met Rowan, she had a good feeling about the other girl since she hadn't recoiled in disgust at her last name like that other woman did. Upon entering Ollivanders, Abby nervously looked as she tried to find someone to help her, only for that help to be right in front of her.

"Hello… Garrick Ollivander is my name. Here to receive your first wand, yes?" the man in front of her introduced himself.

"Yes, sir," Abby replied.

"I have just the thing. Applewood wand, porlock hair, nine inches, rigid," Ollivander said as he handed Abby the wand. "Go on. Give it a twirl."

Nervously, Abby gave the wand a twirl, only for it to cause a bunch of papers to fly around the room. Messing things up was something that Abby hated doing, so she hesitantly turned back to Ollivander as she gave him back the wand.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to," Abby apologised.

"It's not your fault, dear. The wand chooses the wizard and that is clearly not the wand for you. If I remember correctly, your brother exploded my favourite inkpot when he tried his first wand," Ollivander remembered.

"You knew my brother?" Abby asked in surprise.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold. And I also remember a little girl who accompanied him with his mother, which I'm assuming was you," Ollivander stated.

"Yes, that was probably me. I came with Jacob every year when we went to get his school supplies," Abby recalled.

"Your brothers wand was maple wood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches. A fine wand and a shame that they snapped it when he was expelled," Ollivander mused. "I understand that he ran away from home after being expelled, and has been missing ever since. That must have had a profound impact on you."

Abby sighed, "Yes, it did. Things have been harder on our family ever since he left and I don't think that I'll ever be able to live up to our family's name. I just want to prove that I can be a good witch and make a name for myself, despite who my brother and father might be."

"Hm, I appreciate your drive and humility. I can also sense that you have the ability to be a fast learner as well. I may have just the wand for you…" Ollivander trailed off as he produced another wand. "Larch wood with a dragon heartstring core, ten inches and slightly spring flexibility."

It was hard to deny the pull that Abby felt towards that wand. She wasn't sure why she felt that connection. Maybe it was because it had the same core as her brothers wand or maybe, the wand had already chosen her. That was what prompted Abby to take the wand from Ollivanders hands and give it a twirl. Instead of causing papers to fall everywhere, the twirl caused a slight breeze to flutter through the room.

"Splendid!" Ollivander exclaimed. "Dragon heartstrings tend to produce wands with the most power and learn more quickly than other types. Larch wood tends to instill courage into its owner and creates wands of hidden talents. I can see that you have the courage and hidden talent to master this wand."

"Thank you so much, sir," Abby said.

"The pleasure is all mine, dear. I'll be interested to see what path you choose…" Ollivander trailed off.

Satisfied with her wand, Abby headed back outside where she found Rowan waiting for her where they last met. This time, Rowan was wearing a rather odd sweater which Abby most likely would not have chosen for herself.

"Hey, Abby!" Rowan acknowledged Abby as she approached her. "How do you like my sweater?"

"It… suits you. You'll look like the smartest first year at Hogwarts," Abby replied.

"It was your suggestion! I'll be coming to you for all of my future fashion advice!" Rowan exclaimed. "Wait, is that a larch wand?"

"… Yes. How did you know?" Abby wondered.

"My family's tree farm supplies wood for wands and brooms. That's why I love staying inside and reading. It keeps me from going outside and farming," Rowan answered.

"Oh," Abby nodded.

"You don't think that I'm too weird? People usually think that I'm too weird," Rowan asked.

"Why would anyone say that about you?" Abby remarked, even though she could somewhat see why people would say that Rowan was weird. But she seemed to be the good kind of weird in Abby's book. "My brother is Jacob Selwyn, so I'm the queen of weird."

"The same Jacob Selwyn who was expelled from Hogwarts for breaking school rules in search of the fabled cursed vaults?" Rowan gasped. "And the same Jacob Selwyn who's the son of the convicted Death Eater, Rogelius Selwyn?"

"Yeah, that one…" Abby mumbled.

"That was a massive story in the Daily Prophet. Everyone at school will know all about that," Rowan said.

"I know. And they'll all think that I'm weird," Abby stated.

"We'll be weird together!" Rowan exclaimed.

"You're not bothered by my brother and father?" Abby asked in surprise.

"Why would I be? You seem nice enough. And my parents always taught me not to judge people based on assumptions," Rowan replied. "Besides, I'm always judged based on outside appearances so who would I be to judge someone because of who their family happens to be?"

"Thank you, Rowan. You're probably the nicest person that I've ever met," Abby said.

"What should I do if someone gives you trouble over your brother and father?" Rowan asked.

"Please don't do anything. The last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself. All I want is a nice, normal schooling experience," Abby replied.

"Well, I doubt that you'll get that at Hogwarts. There are so many mysteries in that castle. Not to mention, all of the ghosts and other exciting things that we're bound to see!" Rowan exclaimed.

"Let's just wait and see what Hogwarts has to show us," Abby stated.

"I'm so excited! I can't wait to board the Hogwarts Express! We should sit together!" Rowan exclaimed.

"We should," Abby agreed. "I'll try to find you on platform nine and three quarters."

"Great! I'll meet you there," Rowan smiled.

When it came time for Abby to say goodbye to Rowan, she was somewhat sad to leave the girl who she'd just met and go back to her home. But Abby knew that she'd see Rowan again and for that she was looking forward to. In all her life, Abby had never really had a real friend apart from her brother Jacob and her cousin Octavia, who was the only other member of her father's family who didn't treat her like dirt.

Despite Jacob's obsession with the Cursed Vaults, Abby had no intentions of following in her brothers footsteps at this point in time. All Abby wanted was to go to Hogwarts like a normal student and have a normal schooling experience. By no means did she want to cause any unnecessary trouble to put her in the spotlight.

Only Abby had no idea that her experience at Hogwarts would be anything but normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up longer than I expected it to be, since I didn’t plan on writing so much of Diagon Alley. It was also confusing for me to write with the ages and school, since Hogwarts starts in the middle of the year whereas I start school at the beginning of the year where I live. As for Abby’s wand, it’s my wand according to my Pottermore page and those are the characteristics that are associated with it. In regards to Abby’s name, it was just going to be Abby until I came across the Latin name Abelia while I was looking to see if there was any Latin form of Jacob, which there was with Jacobus. The name Abelia comes from the Latin name of genes of “honeysuckle” and Jacobus is a form of Iakobus that means “supplanter” in use of the Dutch.


	3. Silver Meets Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want to find me on twitter I have a Hogwarts Mystery profile on there so you can find me under @/slytherinabby. And if you guys like the story so far, please share it where you can so more people can read it. I’m looking forward to this chapter since it’s the start of Abby’s journey at Hogwarts so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Arriving at Hogwarts filled Abby with excitement that replaced the nerves she originally felt. The nerves had come from what would possibly be said about her because of her family's reputation. So far, Abby hadn't encountered any problems because of that since she had sat with Rowan the entire time on the Hogwarts Express. It hadn't been hard for Abby to find Rowan at Platform Nine and Three Quarters after being dropped off by her father, since Rowan had been the one to find her after pushing her way through the crowd of family's to do so.

Throughout their journey on the Hogwarts Express, Rowan had just recited basically everything she knew from Hogwarts: A History which was certainly a lot. It had quickly become apparent to Abby that Rowan prided herself on knowing as much as she could on everything, particularly Hogwarts. As annoying as it kind of was, Abby couldn't help but appreciate Rowan for just being herself without any worries. That was something that Abby could certainly learn from Rowan, since all her life Abby had done what she thought other people wanted her to do instead of just being herself.

Upon reaching Hogwarts, the first year students disembarked from the Hogwarts Express and were lead astray from the older students who seemed to know where they were going. As for Abby, she just stayed by Rowan's side in the hope that she would remain unnoticed for the time being. But then Rowan tugged gently at her arm, prompting Abby to look up, only to stumble backwards at the sight of the large man in front of her. He was easily the tallest man that Abby had ever laid eyes on and it was unfathomable to her that someone could be that size.

"Welcome, everyone," he bellowed. "Firs' yers make yer way teh me!"

"His speech is a bit… odd," Abby whispered to Rowan.

"He's also a giant," Rowan whispered back.

Together with the other first years, Abby and Rowan headed towards the Black Lake where several wood boats were waiting for them. Although it wasn't the darkness of the lake that first caught Abby's eye, as she instantly looked up at the breathtaking sight of the Hogwarts castle in front of her. It was truly unlike anything that she'd ever seen before and Abby couldn't wait to step inside of it for the first time.

Their short journey across the Black Lake was made in peace as Abby and Rowan were joined by another girl with blonde hair who seemed nice enough along with a rather shy boy who seemed terrified of everything. Once the boats reached the end, the first-year students disembarked from them and were guided towards the castle which Abby's gaze remained fixated on. This was going to be her new home for seven years, and Abby couldn't wait to see what it was all about. The first years were then greeted by an older woman standing at the top of a staircase, who was at a normal height in comparison to the giant.

"Good evening, first years," the woman smiled warmly at them. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. The welcome feast is about to begin, but the first thing you must do is get sorted into your house. Our four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin and have produced a number of renowned witches and wizards. During your time here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points and any rule-breaking will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. The sorting ceremony will begin in a few moments, so please wait here."

"What house are you hoping to get sorted into?" Rowan asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," Abby admitted. "It would be nice to be sorted into Slytherin to continue my family's tradition, but at the same time I know that the other houses are just as enticing."

"Slytherin has a habit of producing dark wizards, though. But then again, there are other houses who have produced their fair share of evil," Rowan said before she leaned closer to Abby. "But none of them have been more evil than You-Know-Who."

When it came to the topic of the Dark Lord, Abby always preferred to avoid it considering her family's past in that area. So when Rowan mentioned him, Abby just nodded in agreement before changing the subject to something else. There wasn't that much time left for talking as Professor McGonagall made an appearance again.

"We are ready for you now. Please follow me in an orderly fashion," McGonagall ordered.

Doing as told, the first years lined up in an orderly fashion and entered the Great Hall side by side. When they did, Abby couldn't help but look around in awe of the place. Her gaze lingered at the starry sky above them, even though Abby knew that it wasn't real. The group of first years then lined up at the front as Professor Dumbledore told them the rules that they were expected to follow. Then Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a scroll in her hand as she glanced down at the group of nervous first years.

"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses," she told them.

During the whole sorting ceremony, Abby just stood there as she nervously waited for her turn. As each student got sorted and their house welcomed them with applause, Abby's nerves only grew even more as she wondered if her house would welcome her like that. Just standing there was enough to warrant more anticipation from Abby as she looked forward to and dreaded hearing her name being called when finally, it was.

"Selwyn, Abelia."

Silence fell over the Great Hall and Abby instantly felt all eyes on her. Although that didn't bother her. What bothered her the most was that Professor McGonagall had called her by her full name. By the time Abby was done with her first week at Hogwarts, she would make sure that everyone knew not to call her that disgusting name  _Abelia_.

As Abby stepped up, she could feel almost everyone staring at her, which soon became uncomfortable and even more so when she took her place on the chair and saw them all actually looking at her. Everyone seemed to be glaring at her, and Abby knew that it was because of her brother and fathers history. The only person who didn't look at her with distaste was Rowan who smiled eagerly at her from the Slytherin table as McGonagall put the sorting hat on her head.

"Hmm… very interesting. I haven't seen one like this in a long time. Not since your brother, if I'm right. He was a fine young wizard and I see the same potential in you," the hat spoke through her mind.

"R-really?" Abby asked, feeling a swell of pride at being compared to Jacob in a  _positive_ way.

"Indeed, young witch," the hat replied. "I can see the potential for greatness inside of you. But at the same time, I can also see shards of darkness that have corrupted your soul but the light inside of you continues to purify it. I can feel the conflict within you – the fear that you will not be treated justly and that people will condemn you for being your fathers daughter and your brothers sister but at the same time, you wish to stand on your own and prove yourself as a worthy witch."

"Yes, I do. There is nothing more that I want than to make a reputation for myself that isn't a result of my family's history," Abby whispered.

"You truly are a difficult witch to sort, young lady. I could see you doing well in all four houses. You have the ambition and resourcefulness of a true Slytherin, you have the courage and the bravery of a Gryffindor, the wit and creativity of a Ravenclaw along with the dedication and kindness of a Hufflepuff. Which house would you prefer?" the hat questioned.

"Just put me where you think I could do my best in," Abby replied, not wanting to influence the sorting hats decision despite having her own preference.

"Alright, then. I better put you in…" the hat trailed off before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN."

Relief flooded through Abby as that had secretly been her choice from the beginning before Abby realised that the sorting hat probably saw through that. The relief was soon replaced with uneasiness as she saw the soft clapping from the other houses while Slytherin remained quiet. Only Rowan got up to applaud her entry. It kind of hurt to be shunned by her own house already. As for the other houses, Abby assumed that they were only clapping because they hadn't got stuck with her.

When Abby reached the Slytherin table, she took a seat opposite to Rowan who smiled brightly at her. It didn't go unnoticed by Abby that the person sitting next to her quickly slid as far away as possible from her. Although Abby did feel someone's gaze on her, but she almost didn't want to look to see who it was.

"Isn't this exciting? We're Slytherin's!" Rowan exclaimed.

"It is. Of all the houses, this is probably the one that I would've felt the most comfortable in," Abby admitted.

"To be honest, I was surprised that the Sorting Hat didn't put me in Ravenclaw considering my knowledge on everything. But then the hat said that my knowledge comes from my thirst for it and my ambitions to be the smartest witch at Hogwarts fit the bill for Slytherin," Rowan said.

"Rowan, can you see anyone… looking at me?" Abby asked nervously.

"Who, the Snyde girl who just got sorted?" Rowan asked, referring to the girl who had been called up after Abby and was now glaring at her from down the table.

"No, not from that direction. Behind me," Abby clarified.

"Oh," Rowan replied as she looked ahead. "Well, there's that greasy looking guy at the Professors table who seems to be looking in our general direction."

Glancing towards the Professors table, Abby did indeed notice one of them glancing towards her before they quickly turned their gaze elsewhere.

"I think that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions and is our Head of House. He doesn't exactly have the best reputation. Rumour has it, he was a Death Eater and it's been said that he's a pretty harsh teacher with high expectations," Rowan supplied.

"Hasn't he only recently started teaching?" Abby asked.

Rowan nodded, "Yeah, I think he started teaching from the 1981 school year."

"That must mean he would've known Jacob," Abby murmured before noticing Professor Dumbledore heading towards the lectern. "I think that the Headmaster is about to say something."

Silence fell over the Great Hall as Dumbledore began his speech, "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. The past few years have seen a great weight lifted from our world. The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, is safe. Years from now, young Harry will be old enough to attend Hogwarts. But for now, it's your turn. Before we can enjoy the pleasantries, I must inform the new students and remind the older students that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all. That is all, now enjoy the feast!"

As soon as Dumbledore said that, everyone was quickly digging into the delicious feast that had been laid out for them. The food was quite different to anything that Abby normally ate at home, since she usually had fancy meals prepared for her by her house-elf, Ziggy, who Abby hoped was doing okay without her. The feast continued until their Head of House instructed them to head to their Common Room.

Abby's first impression of their common room was that it had quite a mysterious vibe to it, given the fact that it gave off the look of an underwater shipwreck. Based on what Abby knew, the Slytherin Common Room had windows that could see out to the Hogwarts Lake and that the giant squid often swam past. Looking around, Abby could see that the room was adorned with serpent-like decorations which prompted her to brush her fingers against her brothers family ring that was now rightfully on her finger instead of hidden behind her clothes as a necklace like it had been since Jacob first gave it to her.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Rowan said from behind her.

"Yeah, it really is," Abby agreed. "I hope we get to see the giant squid swim past at some point."

Rowan smiled, "That would be awesome. I'm so glad that we got sorted into Slytherin together, by the way."

"Me too. It'll be nice to have at least one person who isn't giving me an ugly look," Abby remarked.

"I'm excited to be in Slytherin because I'd like to change the all-Slytherins-are-evil stereotype. Some of the most successful witches and wizards have also come from this house which means that we could be successful witches too!" Rowan exclaimed.

"I'd like to dispel that stereotype too," Abby agreed. "There's so much darkness surrounding Slytherin, but history shows that not all Slytherin's are bad."

"Speaking of history, would you like me to give you an exhaustive history of our hose, including a comprehensive biography of our house founder?" Rowan asked excitedly.

Abby chuckled, "What are you, an encyclopedia?"

"I try to be," Rowan shrugged.

"I can't believe that they even let you in hear after your mental brother got expelled and ruined Slytherin's reputation! Not to mention, everything that you're traitorous father did to tarnish our reputation even more!" a third-year boy suddenly snarled.

"I didn't choose to be put in Slytherin," Abby stated, even though she somewhat did. In the end, it had been the hat who put her in Slytherin when it could've easily put her somewhere else despite her wishes.

"We certainly didn't choose you!" the boy yelled.

"You're right, you didn't. The Sorting Hat did and there's nothing you can do about it so whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me," Abby remarked.

The boy growled before stalking off, leaving Abby somewhat smug at the fact that she had managed to have the last word. If there was any sign of winning an argument, it was having the last word which Abby had certainly had.

"I'm sorry, Abby," Rowan apologised. "I wanted to do something, but you asked me to keep quiet back in Diagon Alley."

"It's okay Rowan, that was what I would've wanted you to do. I don't want anyone to fight my battles for me, but I'm hoping that if I do ignore them that people will leave me alone about my brother and father," Abby said.

"They shouldn't treat you any differently because of them anyways," Rowan huffed.

"Have you seen your timetable yet?" Abby asked.

"Yes! Can you believe it? Herbology with Professor Sprout, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall…" Rowan trailed off in wonder. "What are you most looking forward to, Abby?"

"Well, it would be good to find my brother as soon as I can so that I can make sure that he's okay. But before I do that I guess I'd have to learn some spells and potions. But potions is what's intriguing me the most," Abby answered.

"I'm personally looking forward to Transfiguration because I hear that McGonagall is a great teacher. Snape, on the other hand, doesn't exactly have the best reputation but I've heard that he goes a bit easier on Slytherins," Rowan said.

"We've got Charms with Professor Flitwick first thing in the morning so we better get some rest," Abby suggested.

Rowan nodded, "You're right. I'd hate to mess anything up on my first day and even more so in my first class. Let's head to our dormitory!"

Ready to get some sleep, Abby followed Rowan to their dormitory which was just how Abby would've wanted it to be. The beds were covered in green eiderdowns with a nightstand next to them and their school trunks at the foot of their bed. There was a wooden chair next to the bed along with a dresser and a wooden board on either side of the bed which Abby knew was for them to decorate. She was definitely hoping to have that board decorated by the end of the year with plenty of memories to last a lifetime.

Now that Abby was finally there at Hogwarts, she had never felt a greater sense of belonging than what she did in that moment. Not even at home did Abby ever have that feeling, not since Jacob left. But now that Abby was at the same place where Jacob had made so many memories, Abby already felt their connection growing inside of her. That connection was something that Abby was hoping to nourish so she could still feel close to Jacob even though she had no idea where he was. But first, Abby just wanted to make it through her first day which she couldn't wait for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we’re finally at Hogwarts. Now the story’s really going to start evolving into what it was and what I would’ve liked it to have been. This story is definitely going to try and break the bad-Slytherin mould that most people seem to believe since there are other dark wizards who came from houses that weren’t Slytherin. Speaking of houses, I really felt like Rowan was a textbook Ravenclaw since she knows just about everything but I guess she had to follow MC wherever she went and Rowan does also have certain Slytherin attributes. On another note, I’m not really sold on the name for this story so if you guys have any other suggestions, let me know.


	4. What to Expect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like that, we’ve already reached the first day of Abby’s schooling which is certainly going to be interesting. Like I’ve previously mentioned, there will be certain parts of my story that won’t follow the game through and through so you can expect a few things to be added here and there.

On the morning of her first official day at Hogwarts, Abby was beside herself with nerves. These nerves were nothing compared to her nerves from arriving at Hogwarts. Those had just come from her worries about what she’d have to face. These nerves came from Abby’s desire to prove herself, because if last night was any indication, being Jacob Selwyn’s brother meant that people would already have their expectations of her. Expectations that Abby hoped to prove wrong in the best way possible.

Out of all their classes, the one that Abby was mostly looking forward to was Potions. Simply because the idea of creating magic with something that the likes of muggles used had always fascinated her. But Abby knew that in order to do well in Potions that she’d have to get on Professor Snape’s good side and considering Jacob’s reputation around here already, Abby wouldn’t have been surprised if Professor Snape looked down on her just because of what her last name was.

“Can you believe that we’re starting our classes already? I’m so excited!” Rowan exclaimed giddily.

“I just hope that I don’t mess anything up,” Abby murmured.

“You’ll do great! If any of the teachers give you a hard time, just prove them wrong with your magic,” Rowan reassured her.

“I hope that the teachers don’t give me a hard time. I don’t even want to cause trouble. I just want to learn as much as I can so that I can be the best witch I can be,” Abby admitted.

“Well both be fine. Now let’s get to Charms before we’re late. I’d hate to show up late on our first class. That could destroy my chances of becoming Head Girl!” Rowan said.

Abby rolled her eyes, “I’m sure we’ll show up perfectly on time, Rowan.”

Before Abby could conquer Potions, she first had to get through Charms. Having already learned some of the basic spells, Abby was somewhat confident that she would be able to handle Charms. Her first impressions of their teacher, Professor Flitwick, was that he was very… tiny. Based on what Abby already knew about him, Flitwick was a master dueller so she was excited to learn from him.

“Good morning, class,” Flitwick greeted them as he climbed atop what looked like a staircase of books. “For those of you who don’t know who I am, I am Professor Flitwick and I will be your Charms teacher. Today you will be learning one of the more basic spells, Lumos. Is there anyone who can tell me what the effect of this incantation is?”

Glancing around the class to se if anyone was going to answer, Abby saw that nobody appeared to be interested in answering the question. Opposite to her, Abby noticed a particular Gryffindor boy who seemed as though he knew the answer, but was hesitant to do so. Before anyone else could answer, Rowan beat them all to it.

“The effect of the Wand-Lighting Charm illuminates the wand tip,” Rowan answered confidently.

“Correct, Miss…” Flitwick complimented Rowan as he trailed off in search of her name.

“Khanna, sir,” Rowan smiled brightly.

“Ah, the Khanna family. Owners of the Khanna Farm, I assume?” Flitwick stated.

“Yes, sir,” Rowan nodded.

“They do make fine wands over there. Five points to Slytherin. Now, can anyone tell me who invented the Wand-Lighting Charm?” Flitwick asked.

This time, Abby restrained Rowan from answering and gave the Gryffindor boy opposite to her a reassuring nod to hopefully give him the confidence to speak up, which it seemed to do.

“Levina Monkstanley in 1772, sir,” the boy replied nervously.

“Correct!” Flitwick praised him. “What is your name, young man?”

“Ben Cooper, sir,” the boy replied quietly. His shyness was obvious to Abby, but she had a feeling that it came from more than just the first day nerves that Abby was feeling.

“Five points to Gryffindor,” Flitwick rewarded him.

“I heard he’s a muggleborn and a bit of a coward,” Rowan whispered to Abby.

“Rowan, don’t say that,” Abby hissed.

“That’s just what everybody else is saying,” Rowan said.

They spent the rest of the class learning how to perform the Lumos spell. At the end of the class, Flitwick had asked all of the students to demonstrate their use of the Wand-Lighting Charm. Some of the students performed it perfectly, whereas others weren’t as impressive. One of the most impressive performers had been Ben Cooper, who Abby could see had a gift for charms.

“That was great, Ben,” Abby complimented him.

Ben almost jumped out of his skin when Abby acknowledged him, “Thank you…”

“Now, Miss Selwyn. It is your turn,” Flitwick addressed Abby. “If you’re anything like your brother, you’ll do just fine. He was one of my most skilled students.”

“Really?” Abby exclaimed. Jacob had never told her about his studies. He’d just told her about all of the adventures that he’d had at Hogwarts.

“Indeed he was. That being said, he was also one of my most rebellious students…” Flitwick trailed off. “Are you going to follow in your brothers footsteps or are you going to follow the rules?”

“I have every intention of following the rules, sir. I just want to stay out of trouble and do what is expected of me,” Abby replied, hoping that the answer was enough to please Flitwick.

“Very well. Now if you could please perform the Lumos spell,” Flitwick said.

Taking a deep breath, Abby recited the hand movement of the spell like Flitwick had taught them. As far as Abby was concerned, she had done the spell just perfectly. Although Abby still waited for Flitwick’s judgement before she came to her final conclusion.

“Well done, Miss Selwyn,” Flitwick praised her. “That’s the best execution of the Wand-Lighting Charm I’ve seen from a first-year in quite some time. Ten points to Slytherin.”

“Thank you, sir,” Abby replied, happy that she had already done her part in her house.

“Nice work, Abby! I read everything I could on the Wand-Lighting Charm, and yours was still better! You’re a natural,” Rowan congratulated her.

“Thanks, Rowan. You’re still the smartest witch I know and could probably recite every fact about the Wand-Lighting Charm unlike anyone else,” Abby said.

Rowan blushed, “I probably could. Anyways, it looks like class is over so we would best be heading off now.”

Abby nodded, “Yeah, we have potions next and I have a feeling that facing Snape won’t be so easy…”

Despite her reservations about her Potions Professor and Head of House, Abby was still willing to head into Potions with an open mind and the desire to try her best. After Charms, Rowan went off ahead of Abby to get some more books from their dormitory. As Abby headed towards the Potions Classroom, she spotted Rowan outside but it soon became apparent that Rowan wasn’t alone.

“Who’s that girl?” Abby murmured to herself.

As Abby got closer, she recognised the girl as fellow Slytherin, Merula Snyde who was also in the same year as her and Rowan. While they didn’t share a dormitory, Abby had seen her during the welcoming feast and Merula had made her dislike of Abby quite obvious based on the glare she sent her way. Once Abby could hear what they were saying, it became clear that they weren’t having a friendly conversation.

“Admit it!” Merula exclaimed.

“I can’t!” Rowan proclaimed.

“Say I’m the most powerful witch at Hogwarts!” Merula demanded.

“It’s logically impossible!” Rowan argued as Abby got between them. “I’ve made numerous lists of the most powerful witches at Hogwarts based on multiple factors. You’re less powerful than Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, every single seventh-year… You’re a first-year like me!”

“I’m _nothing_ like you,” Merula seethed.

“Leave her alone,” Abby said.

“Who do you think you are?” Merula demanded.

“If anyone should be considered the most powerful witch at Hogwarts, it should be Abby. Professor Flitwick said that she cast the best Wand-Lighting Charm of any first-year,” Rowan proclaimed.

A glare morphed onto Merula’s face as recognition set in, “Now I know exactly who you are. You’re Abelia Selwyn. Your brother lost his mind, disgraced his house – _our_ – house, got expelled from school and was never heard from again. The Sorting Hat should be burned for putting you in Slytherin.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t care about what house I was in if I hadn’t been put in Slytherin,” Abby retorted.

“Yes, I wouldn’t care,” Merula glared at Abby. “Then I wouldn’t have to worry about you tainting our house anymore than what your brother did. But I, Merula Snyde, first-year Slytherin and the best witch at Hogwarts will do everything I can to make sure that you don’t do what your brother did.”

“Trust me when I say that I don’t plan on doing what Jacob did,” Abby said.

“I overheard the professors talking about you at the Feast. I suppose you think that you’re better than me. I should put you out of your misery before you ruin Hogwarts like your brother tried to,” Merula taunted.

“Jacob never wanted to ruin Hogwarts. He loved this place,” Abby argued. “Besides, I have no intention of starting any trouble.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Merula growled.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Abby tried to reason with her.

“You’re just scared that I’ll humiliate you and prove why I am the most powerful witch at Hogwarts,” Merula smirked.

Before Merula could try and ‘humiliate’ Abby, she noticed Professor Snape heading towards them and tried her best to act like there wasn’t any trouble. Only Snape saw through that.

“Selwyn,” Snape addressed her. “I knew you would be trouble.”

“Professor Snape!” Merula exclaimed, almost as if she was afraid.

“Merula was bullying my friend, Professor,” Abby said.

“Get to class. Be thankful that you’re not heading to detention,” Snape growled and Merula quickly followed after him.

“Thank you for standing up for me, Abby. I’ve never been very strong. Or good at making friends…” Rowan trailed off. “I’m glad that you and I are both in Slytherin.”

“Merula doesn’t seem so happy about it,” Abby remarked. “Did you hear what she said, though? Why would the professors be talking about me?”

“I don’t know, but we better get to Potions. We’re in enough trouble as it is,” Rowan replied.

Abby nodded, “We don’t want to get on Snape’s bad side anymore than what we probably are.”

They walked into the Potions Classroom together, and Abby quickly noticed how dark and dreary it was. There was hardly any light and it made Abby wonder how they were ever going to get any work done in here. Maybe that’s why Professor Flitwick had taught them Lumos first.

“There will be no foolish pranks or wand-waving and intolerable screeching of mispronounced incantations in this class,” Snape stated as he took his place at the front of the class. “This class is not for the impatient and I do not expect all of you to appreciate the subtle and complex art that is potions. Despite that, I hope that there is at least one of you who will be able to succeed in this class.”

“That won’t be you, Selwyn,” Merula taunted from beside Abby.

“Today you will be learning one of the beginners potions; the Cure for Boils. It is a fairly simple potion so I will not tolerate any mistakes,” Snape said as his eyes landed on Abby. “I will also not tolerate any rule-breakers whose only intentions centre around themselves with no consideration for the safety of others.”

“You won’t have to worry about that with me, Professor,” Abby replied since she felt as though Snape’s warning had been directed straight at her.

“Very well,” Snape nodded. “Ensnare the senses. Bewitch the mind. Keep your mouths shut.”

Potions class wasn’t like Charms class where you could talk freely with those around you and help each other out. Professor Snape also wasn’t like Professor Flitwick who openly encouraged students and praised them for their success whereas Snape was unsupportive and seemed to take time in nit-picking any mistakes he could find. It certainly didn’t help that throughout the whole class Abby had to put up with Merula making rude remarks about her family and how she was ‘destined to fail.’

Not wanting to let Merula get the better of her, Abby remained focused and dedicated to her work despite constantly feeling nerves as she felt Snape’s glare at the back of her head. Knowing how hard it was to please their uptight Potions Professor, Abby was hoping to brew a perfect potion that would hopefully get him off her back. So when Abby finished brewing her Cure for Boils, she couldn’t deny the pride that she felt at brewing her first potion.

“It worked! I brewed my first potion!” Abby exclaimed.

“Congratulations, Abby! In all my research, hardly anyone brews this potion correctly on their first try,” Rowan said.

“Wait… What’s happening?” Abby wondered as she started noticing her potion acting strange.

“Did you add Bulbadox Powder? From my studies, this looks like the beginnings of the explosive reaction caused by adding Bulbadox powder…” Rowan trailed off.

“I could’ve sworn that I followed each and every instruction precisely,” Abby murmured before her eyes widened. “Wait, did you say explosive?”

Before Abby had time to react, her cauldron exploded into several pieces and Merula’s satisfied smirk didn’t go unnoticed by her. Whatever had happened to her potion, Abby was certain that it wasn’t a result of her own fault.

“Congratulations. You have cured the table of boils,” Merula smirked.

“You should have never been allowed inside of my classroom, Selwyn. Not since your brother have I seen such a reckless Slytherin. Pity you weren’t sorted into Gryffindor instead where they pride themselves on being reckless fools,” Snape reprimanded her.

“But Professor Snape, I –“ Abby started, only to get cut off by Snape’s sharp tone.

“Ten points from Slytherin,” he said, causing Abby’s face to fall. “What do you have to say for yourself?’

“I must not have been given proper instructions, Professor,” Abby stated.

“You dare blame your foolishness on me? You should consider yourself fortunate that I didn’t give you detention. Or worse,” Snape growled before walking off.

“I can’t believe you blamed Snape,” Rowan whispered once their Potions Professor was out of earshot. “But it was the right choice. It threw him off, and kept him from taking more House Points.”

“It’s only going to get worse, Selwyn,” Merula threatened. “You should have known that coating your cauldron with Bulbadox Powder would make your potion explode. I certainly did.”

“You did this?” Abby narrowed her eyes. “What’s your problem? We’re both in Slytherin. You just cost us House Points!”

“I’d rather lose House Points now than have you ruin Slytherin’s reputation forever,” Merula stated. “Now there’s no doubt that I’m the most important first-year, and you’re nothing but a disgrace, just like your brother.”

They were eventually dismissed from class, which freed Abby from having to put up with Merula for any longer. Upon leaving the Potions Classroom, Abby spotted the Gryffindor boy from Charms class, Ben Cooper, in the corridor of the dungeons. When he recognised her, Ben nervously approached her.

“You’re Abelia Selwyn, right?” Ben asked.

“Yes, but please call me Abby,” Abby replied.

“I just wanted to thank you for giving me the courage to speak up in Charms. I also wanted to thank you for standing up to Merula Snyde,” Ben said.

“Who told you I did that?” Abby wondered.

“I was watching from the end of the corridor. I’ve been following her so she can’t sneak up on me, and if she sees me, I’ll at least have a chance to run away,” Ben answered.

“You seem so terrified of her when she’s just a first-year like us,” Abby observed.

“Merula Snyde isn’t just a normal first-year like us. She’s a bully. She tormented me the entire way here on the Hogwarts Express. She kept threatening me, and calling me a Mudblood,” Ben explained.

“I’m sorry, Ben. That’s terrible,” Abby apologised, hating the word Mudblood. It just felt so wrong to call someone such a derogatory term, something that her father disagreed with.

“Merula is obsessed with being the best witch in our year, and she thinks she has to impose her will on us to prove it. I’m just glad that someone was brave enough to stand up to her. I’m certainly not. It’s a joke that I got put in Gryffindor,” Ben said.

“Everyone is afraid of something, Ben,” Abby tried comforting him.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid of everything. I come from a Muggle family, so all of this is new and scary to me,” Ben murmured.

“I know how you feel, Ben. I come from a wizard family and it’s been hard adjusting to this as well. I’ll try to help you however I can, Ben,” Abby promised.

“Thanks, Abby,” Ben smiled. “I’ll see you around.”

After Ben left her standing there, Abby knew that she was going to have to face Slytherin on her own, knowing that because of Merula’s actions, she’d just lost her house ten points. Even though Abby had only just met Merula Snyde, she seemed determined to do whatever she could to ruin everything for Abby. That was when Abby remembered the warning that her cousin, Octavia, had given her before she left for Hogwarts.

_Be careful of Merula Snyde. Her parents are trouble, which will probably mean that she’s trouble too._

Normally Abby didn’t keep up with the news or gossip in the wizarding world, but Abby did remember listening to her father talking about the Snyde’s some time ago after they were caught doing crimes involving Voldemort. Since Abby’s father had done his best to reinvent his image in the public eye, Abby just assumed that Merula hated her because of that. But since Merula had already tried to sabotage Abby on her first day, Abby had the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time that she’d be at odds with Merula Snyde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Abby’s met Merula and the rivalry begins. Things with Abby and Merula are certainly going to be interesting, considering that their parents share the same past. Then there’s Ben, our beloved Gryffindor friend who some would hardly consider a Gryffindor but at the same time, I think Gryffindor is perfect for him. He might be afraid of everything, but that’s what makes him a perfect Gryffindor in my opinion. Now Abby’s had her first taste of Potions with Snape and it’s going to be interesting to see where I go with that considering the somewhat similarities between them.


	5. Dealing With Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re only five chapters in and there’s less than nine chapters to go of Year One. Each year will get bigger as the story progresses, because I will be adding in certain events to spice things up but that major stuff will start in Year 3, any other changes or additions before that will be minor.

Facing the rest of Slytherin after losing house points in Potions thanks to Merula’s sabotage was certainly not something that Abby was looking forward to. It had been made clear to Abby that her house fully intended to win the House Cup at the end of the year, and by losing those ten points, Abby had made that job even more difficult than it needed to be.

“What a great start you’re off to, Selwyn,” a Slytherin fifth-year berated Abby as she entered the Common Room with Rowan. “You’ve already lost us ten points and now we’re in fourth place!”

 _Great, I’m barely a few steps into my Common Room and I’m already getting a lecture._ Abby thought.

“Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?” Abby crossed her arms. She didn’t like being told what to do by the teachers, let alone another student.

“I think I am your Prefect, Felix Rosier,” the boy introduced himself. “So I have every right to talk to you like that. It’s a Prefects job to keep order in the house, and help first-years like you with their problems. Considering what your brother did to Slytherin’s reputation, I should’ve kept a closer eye on you.”

“I can assure you that I am not my brother. I didn’t come here with the intention of causing any trouble,” Abby stated.

“Then why did you just get into trouble?” Felix demanded.

“It wasn’t Abby’s fault. That Merula Snyde girl sabotaged her potion!” Rowan exclaimed.

“Do you have any proof of this accusation?” Felix questioned.

“No,” Rowan grumbled.

“Nevertheless, Professor Snape has already sent you a letter directly to our Common Room,” Felix said.

“Why wouldn’t he just send the letter to me?” Abby wondered.

“Probably because he hates you. Snape hates everyone so I wouldn’t take it personally, but I would read that letter immediately,” Felix suggested.

“Selwyn, I have discovered evidence that your potion may have indeed been tampered with. While it does not prove your innocence, it does cast some doubt on my belief that you are hopelessly incompetent. Bring me a jar of Pickled Slugs from the Potions Storeroom, and I will consider restoring your house points – Snape,” Abby read the letter.

“It seems as though he’s left directions to the Potions Storeroom at the bottom of this letter,” Rowan observed. “Want me to come with you, Abby? It’s the least I can do after you saved me from Merula.”

Abby shook her head, “Thanks, but I don’t want to get you into any trouble if it happens. You don’t want to ruin your chances of becoming Head Girl.”

“You’re right! I can’t afford to get onto any teachers radars. I should take this time to study and revise everything that we’ve learned so far,” Rowan said.

“But Rowan, we’ve only had one day of classes,” Abby pointed out.

“Exactly! I’m already wasting time if I want to get perfect marks on my exams!” Rowan exclaimed before rushing off to their shared dorm.

All Abby could do was shake her head in amusement at Rowan’s antics. Even though Rowan’s excessive knowledge came from her desire to be the smartest witch at Hogwarts, it still amazed Abby that Rowan hadn’t ended up in Ravenclaw. At least Abby had a friend in Slytherin, since if Rowan wasn’t around then Abby would have nobody else to talk to.

“What are you standing there for and doing nothing? Go get the supplies that Snape wanted!” Felix ordered.

Not wanting to get onto her prefects bad side already, Abby hurried off and followed the directions listed below the letter that Snape had sent her. Even though Abby hadn’t known Snape enough to make sure judgements, there was just something about the way that the letter was written that bothered her. For starters, Snape could’ve easily just came and ordered her to get the supplies since he was her Head of House.

But if there was one thing that Abby had realised in her first Potions class, it was that Snape had a few unorthodox methods of teaching, and she was beginning to wonder how she would make it through seven years with him as her Potions Professor _and_ Head of House.

Arriving at the door, Abby couldn’t help but feel like she was in the wrong place because this certainly didn’t look like a place where you would keep Potions supplies. Nevertheless, Abby opened the door and walked inside, only to be greeted by pitch black darkness. As Abby stepped further inside, she heard the door slam shut behind her.

“What the?” Abby jumped in alarm. “Ugh, it’s so dark in here. I should cast the Wand-Lighting Charm so I’m not blind.”

_“Lumos.”_

Upon casting the spell, Abby jumped back in alarm as she saw what was in front of her. If she’d had any doubts about this being the Potions Storeroom, then those doubts had certainly been confirmed. Either this was some kind of bizarre reaction to the potions, or this was _not_ the Potions Storeroom.

“What is that?” Abby asked, not expecting a response of any kind

“Devil’s Snare. It’s sensitive to light, not to mention _deadly_ ,” a familiar voice replied from the other side of the door.

“Merula? You locked me in here?” Abby exclaimed.

“Sure did. Oh, in case you haven’t figured it out already I also sent you a fake letter from Snape. I told you that things would only get worse for you, Selwyn,” Merula proclaimed, and Abby could just see the smirk that was surely on her face right now.

“You cow!” Abby yelled.

“How _dare_ you insult me like that? If only you weren’t already trapped in there, I’d finish you off myself,” Merula seethed. “Something has to stop you from ruining Slytherin and Hogwarts. It might as well be the Devil’s Snare.”

“You can’t do this!” Abby argued.

“But I’m already doing it, am I? Enjoy being snared,” Merula said.

Within seconds Abby heard Merula’s retreating footsteps, leaving her completely at the mercy of the Devil’s Snare. It wasn’t long before Abby started to feel the pressure of the Devil’s Snare squeezing against her, rendering her completely helpless. Of all the ways she could’ve died, Abby never would’ve expected herself to die like this.

Before the panic could set in, Abby suddenly remembered what Merula had said about the Devil’s Snare being sensitive to light. Whether she had intended to or not, Merula had given Abby the tools that she needed to save herself.

As the Devil’s Snare slowly strangled Abby’s body, she managed to grasp hold of her wand that she’d dropped and was barely able to make the movements of the Wand-Lighting Charm. Piece by piece, the Devil’s Snare slowly began to release itself from Abby’s body, only for another part of it to wrap itself around her. When Abby heard footsteps from outside the door, she knew that she’d need someone to help her get out of this mess.

“Someone! Anyone! Help! I’m being snared by the Devil’s Snare!” Abby screamed.

“What’s goin’ on in there?” a loud voice demanded from the other side of the door. “Outta the way!”

In an instant, the door that was locked was knocked down and a large man entered the room, his eyes instantly landing on Abby, who recognised him as the tall man who lead the first-years to the castle.

“Gulpin’ gargoyles, Slytherin!” the man exclaimed. “Get away from that Devil’s Snare. Yer’ scarin’ it!”

“ _I’m_ scaring it? It’s snaring me!” Abby shrieked.

“Let’s get yeh outta here…” the man trailed off.

After initially being cautious of this giant man, Abby let him help her get untangled from the Devil’s Snare. Once Abby was free from it, all she could do was let out a sigh of relief after not being snared like she thought she would be.

“You saved my life!” Abby caught her breath. “Thank you, Mister…”

“Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service. I’m Keeper of the Keys and Groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Pleasure to meet yeh,” the man introduced himself.

“I’m Abby Selwyn,” Abby introduced herself.

“Ah, yer that Jacob boys brother and that man Rogelius’ daughter. Everybody’s been talking ‘bout yeh. I guess trouble really does run in yer family…” Hagrid trailed off. “How’d yeh end up in there, Abby?”

“A first-year Slytherin named Merula Snyde locked me inside,” Abby replied.

“She did? What are yer goin’ ter do?” Hagrid questioned.

“I’m going to make her pay for trying to kill me. I can’t let her get away with this,” Abby growled.

“I can’t blame yeh for feelin’ that way, but revenge rarely works out for anyone. Yeh might want ter reconsider. I’d head back ter yeh Common Room an’ take some time teh think, Abby. I don’t want yeh doin’ somethin’ yeh’ll regret. Yeh might also want to do somethin’ about those robes. That Devil’s Snare got yeh good,” Hagrid suggested.

“Thank you, Mister. Hopefully I’ll get to see you again,” Abby said.

“Yeh certainly will, Abby. And when yeh do, please call me Hagrid. But fer now, yeh’d better get back teh your Common Room,” Hagrid advised her.

“I will,” Abby nodded.

Despite wanting to stay out of trouble, Abby was beginning to think that with someone like Merula Snyde constantly on her case that that was easier said than done. If Abby was going to make it through Hogwarts, it looked like she’d have to get used to it.

~*•°•*~

After escaping the Devil’s Snare thanks to Hagrid’s help, Abby headed immediately back to her Common Room to hopefully see Rowan. If there was one thing she felt like doing now, it was venting about Merula because Abby was already frustrated with that girl. Except Merula wasn’t the first person who Abby came across when she entered the Common Room, it was Felix Rosier.

“Bloody hell, Abby!” he exclaimed. “What happened to your robes?”

“I got snared by Devil’s Snare,” Abby groaned.

“Devil’s Snare? How? What Happened with Professor Snape?” Felix demanded.

“That rat Merula Snyde faked the note and trapped me in a room with the Devil’s Snare,” Abby snarled.

“What is it with you and this girl?” Felix asked.

“I’d like to know,” Abby grumbled. “The moment she knew who I was she hated me. I think it’s because of what Jacob did, but I also think it’s because she’s threatened by me and she hates that I’m the only person who’s had the guts to stand up to her.”

“And I take it that once again you don’t have any proof?” Felix stated.

“If it’s anything, she admitted it to me that she did it. But I guess Merula’s confession isn’t enough considering I was locked behind a door when she said it,” Abby replied.

“You’re going to need to change into a new set of clothes because you can’t go around looking like that, Professor Snape will have a fit. People already think you’re mad because of your brother, you don’t have to look it,” Felix suggested.

Abby sighed, “I just wish that people would stop thinking that I was my brother and father because I’m not. I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Then you should try staying out of Merula’s way if she really is out to get you. And if you could, figure out a way to get back those twenty house points that you lost,” Felix said.

“I’ll try,” Abby mumbled.

Before she did anything else, Abby wanted to go and see Rowan so she could hopefully vent about her troubles. They were lucky enough to be spared the trouble of having to share a dorm with Merula Snyde, which meant that Abby could vent about her as much as she could.

“Oh my gosh, Abby! What happened?” Rowan exclaimed as Abby entered their dormitory.

“I got snared,” Abby grumbled.

“Did you at least get the house points back?” Rowan asked.

“No, it was a trick by Merula,” Abby replied. “I swear, she’s out to get me when I haven’t even done anything bad to her. The second she heard my name she hated me.”

“That’s probably why she hates you then,” Rowan mused. “I mean, your brother infamously got expelled and as a result, tainted Slytherin’s reputation and your father is a convicted Death Eater. Most people probably won’t like you for that.”

“But it’s not fair. People should judge me based on who I am, not who my brother and father happens to be,” Abby stated.

“It’s sad that people don’t do that. But Merula shouldn’t be one to judge considering who her parents are,” Rowan remarked.

“Do you know what they did? My cousin Octavia told me that the Snydes were trouble and to watch out for their daughter,” Abby said.

“I don’t know what they did exactly, but I heard that they got locked up in Azkaban for doing something bad. I don’t get much news on the Tree Farm,” Rowan answered.

“I guess I’ll have to write to Octavia to see what she can tell me. If Merula is going to be a problem like she has been so far, then I’m going to have to be able to put up with her,” Abby declared.

“Whatever Merula does, I’ll stand by you no matter what. I can’t have my only friend getting expelled,” Rowan smiled.

“Thanks, Rowan. I appreciate it,” Abby replied.

After getting changed from the robes that she would most likely never wear again, Abby set out to write a letter to her cousin Octavia who would hopefully be able to give her some guidance on Hogwarts. If Abby couldn’t go to Jacob at times like this, then she’d at least be able to have Octavia to guide her. But her cousin wasn’t her brother, and Abby wished more than anything that Jacob was here with her in his seventh-year, like it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, Abby had already come to the sad realisation that not everything was the way it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short for a chapter, but the rest will probably have the same length. You can expect Felix to have a bit more of a prominent role in the story compared to him just being a nagging prefect, which I found incredibly annoying. I can’t be the only one who finds it annoying whenever some random asks ‘How many house points have you earned this years?” It just makes me wish that there was an option to say “More than you have, suckers.”


	6. Challenges to Overcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, Happy New Year, guys! Sorry for not posting anything last week, I didn’t have the time to write a chapter so I decided to save it for this year. It’s gonna take some time to get used to saying 2019 considering how long it took me to get used to 2018, lol. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and I'll quit my rambling.

Going into Flying Class, Abby was hoping that things would turn out better than how they did with Potions. When Abby saw that Merula was also in this class, Abby couldn’t help but groan internally. Because if Merula was really out to get her, then she was probably going to take any chance that she had to sabotage her like she did in Potions. And Abby was more worried about Merula sabotaging her in Flying Class than in Potions, especially when she could potentially fall to her death.

Flying was never really something that excited Abby, since the idea of being suspended in the air while only being supported by a wooden broom wasn’t a good one to her. Especially after she fell off her broom when she was eight and ended up breaking her arm. Sure, Abby had got her arm fixed with magic but she had never liked flying since. Jacob had always been a great flyer, he had even been Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team before his expulsion. Abby hoped to be as good of a flyer like he was.

“Welcome to your first Flying Class. I am your Flying Instructor, Madam Hooch,” their professor introduced themselves. “If you demonstrate the ability to raise your brooms, you will be allowed to move on to Basic Hovering.”

“Be careful, Selwyn. It would be awful if you were to fall to your death,” Merula smirked.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone, step up to the left side of your broomstick,” Madam Hooch ordered.

“I’ve been dreading this class all summer…” Abby heard someone beside her murmur.

Looking to see where the voice had come from, Abby saw the Gryffindor boy, Ben Cooper, from Charms class standing beside her. Word had spread that Ben Cooper was a bit of a coward, but Abby liked to think there was more to him than that.

“You’re afraid of heights?” Abby asked.

“Falling from heights, mostly. I told you I come from a muggle family. The idea of flying through the sky on a broom terrifies me,” Ben replied.

“Believe it or not Ben, I share the same fear. Though probably not as crippling as yours,” Abby said.

“Really?” Ben’s eyes widened.

Abby nodded, “When I was eight I fell off my broom while my brother was trying to teach me how to fly. I broke my arm because of it and I’ve never tried since.”

“Now I’m even more nervous,” Ben murmured.

“You can do this, Ben. Just hold tight and concentrate about not falling off,” Abby suggested.

“Do you promise to catch me if I fall?” Ben asked.

“I’ll try my best,” Abby replied.

“That’s not very reassuring, but I guess I might as well get it done and over with,” Ben said.

“Even you don’t have to warry about falling to your death, Mr Cooper. We will only be picking up our brooms today,” Madam Hooch declared.

That seemed to settle Ben’s nerves and they spent the rest of Flying Class learning how to summon their brooms. To Abby’s surprise, she managed to get a hang of it pretty quickly compared to some of the other students. It was quite funny every time Abby watched Merula try to summon her broom, only for her to get whacked in the face with it. Served her right.

Among those who seemed to excel in their class was a Ravenclaw boy who wore a scarf with his uniform as well as a red-haired Gryffindor boy, who Abby assumed was Charlie Weasley. Abby was quite familiar with the other families listed in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, especially the most famous families such as the Malfoys, the Lestranges, and the Blacks. Of course, Abby knew that her own prefect, Felix Rosier came from this list as well.

But Abby knew that the Weasleys were seen as ‘blood traitors’ due to the fact that they hardly acted like any other pompous pure-bloods. She’d certainly heard her father bash their family long enough to know his thoughts on them. Unlike most pure-blood children, Abby had a mind of her own to form her own opinions and actually liked the fact that the Weasleys didn’t care that they came from a line of pure-bloods. Abby certainly didn’t care.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about falling if I never have to fly…” Ben trailed off once their lesson was over. “Thanks for giving me courage again, Abby. I hope I can be a great flyer and not have to worry about plummeting to my death one day.”

“I think you’ve chosen a fine tutor, Mr Cooper,” Madam Hooch stated as she approached them. “Although you do not have the natural talent like your brother did when he first touched a broom, I do see potential for you to become a great flyer one day, Miss Selwyn. Much like him, you’ve shown yourself to have a knack for helping your classmates overcome their fears. Ten points to Slytherin.”

Madam Hooch’s statement was met with earnest eyes from Abby, who found it nice to hear at least some positive words about her brother. Abby had known from Jacob’s stories that Charms and Flying Class were Jacob’s favourite subjects. Of all his subjects, Jacob had always shown the least interest in Potions, which Abby assumed was also why Professor Snape had taken a distinct disliking to her.

“You just need to get used to the idea of flying, Ben. I’m sure if we came up with a plan we could help you get over your fear sooner rather than later. We could look up some books on flying with Rowan if that would help,” Abby suggested.

“Sooner sounds good and so does reading. Hardly anyone falls to their death while reading,” Ben agreed.

“Unless they’re sitting up real high,” Abby remarked before noticing the look of fear that appeared on Ben’s face. “But we won’t be sitting high. We’ll be sitting nice and low.”

“That sounds nice,” Ben agreed.

“I’ll see you later, Ben,” Abby waved him goodbye.

Much to Abby’s relief, Flying Class had turned out far better than Potions had. At least Merula hadn’t tried to sabotage her here as well. The only classes that Abby was free from Merula were Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology. That was better than having to put up with Merula in every class.

As much as Abby didn’t want to let Merula ruin her time at Hogwarts, Merula seemed determined to do exactly that until Abby was long gone. But Abby wasn’t going to take this lying down. If Merula was going to give her trouble, then Abby was going to fight back. If there was one of her fathers principles that she agreed with it was that when challenged by somebody else, you should never let them get the best of you.

~*•°•*~

Later that day, Abby went to meet with Rowan in the Clock Tower Courtyard. They’d had a long day of classes, and between putting up with Merula and everything else, Abby figured that they could’ve used a break together.

“Thanks for meeting me here, Rowan. Between putting up with Merula and Snape, I could certainly use a break. And it looks like you could too,” Abby said as she greeted her newfound friend.

“I’ve already planned my study schedule for the rest of the term so this falls right into my break time,” Rowan smiled.

Abby narrowed her eyes, “You’ve planned your study schedule already?”

“Of course! It pays to be prepared. If I want to get top marks, I’ve got to be diligent with my studying,” Rowan replied.

“There’s your inner Slytherin,” Abby smirked. “This certainly isn’t how I expected my first few days at Hogwarts to go. Hogwarts shouldn’t be about bullies and trying to escape death. It should be about magic and having fun. But Merula is ruining all of that.”

“You wanna know what _isn’t_ fun? History of Magic,” Rowan cringed.

“I know!” Abby exclaimed. “I was actually looking forward to that subject, but Professor Binns is the most boring professor ever. Why do we even have a ghost teaching us that class anyways?”

Rowan shrugged, “Who knows? But at least that class gives me practice for when I will eventually become the youngest professor at Hogwarts.”

“That class just gives me time to sleep and play Exploding Snap. But we can’t really play Gobstones in History of Magic, so I guess here will do,” Abby said.

“I love Gobstones!” Rowan exclaimed. “I play it all the time, mostly because I can’t really do any of the farming work. Though I can never play it with anyone, so I’m looking forward to actually playing with someone else for once.”

“Be prepared to lose,” Abby smirked.

Gobstones had been the first game that Jacob had taught Abby, and they played it all of the time whenever their father wasn’t around. He never liked them mucking around and making a mess of their house so Abby and Jacob hardly ever got the chance to actually play and be like normal kids. Those times when their father went off to do his other business were Abby’s favourite moments. Playing Gobstones had resulted in a victory for Abby, but Rowan seemed perfectly fine with losing.

“Some people think that Gobstones isn’t cool, but I’ve always considered it to be the thinking witch’s Qudditch,” Rowan remarked once they were finished.

Abby grimaced, “Ugh, Quidditch. Definitely _not_ my sport. The only reason why I went to any Quidditch match was because of Jacob. He loved it.”

“Thanks for playing Gobstones with me, Abby. I’ve never really been good at making friends. Most people usually think that I’m a useless weakling or an awkward nerd. You’re weird like me,” Rowan said before pausing. “No offence.”

“None taken. We did become friends pretty quickly. You’re my first real friend, Rowan,” Abby admitted.

Rowan looked surprised, “Really? I would’ve thought that being a pure-blood you would’ve constantly been around other pure-blood kids your age.”

“My father never really liked bringing me along to his pure-blood occasions. Most of the time I was always locked up in my room but I was forced to come down whenever they were at our house. I hated every moment of it, being dressed up and pretending to be someone I wasn’t,” Abby replied.

“For someone who was raised in a pure-blood family, you’re not like any pure-blood that I’ve ever heard of. Though, I guess the Weasleys break that mould too,” Rowan noted.

“I never saw the advantages that being a pure-blood gave someone. Mostly because those advantages never seemed to come to me. People treated my father like he was a noble patriarch, while I was just his brat daughter,” Abby said.

“That’s because you are a brat, Selwyn.”

Turning around, Abby saw Merula approaching them. Abby groaned at this, since she was just having a nice conversation with Rowan and of course, Merula had to come over and ruin the moment.

“Isn’t this precious?” Merula smirked as she approached them. “You’re looking unfortunately well after dealing with the Devil’s Snare, Selwyn. While you’ve been off playing with plants, I’ve been doing a little research about your brother.”

Abby crossed her arms, “Why? I thought you didn’t care about him.”

“Because he was a danger to Hogwarts, just like you are,” Merula sneered. “None of us will be safe until you’re gone.”

“What are you talking about, Merula?” Rowan asked.

“Selwyn’s brother didn’t just get expelled for endangering the school in search of some imaginary vaults… He immediately went missing and the next time that he was seen, he was working for Lord Voldemort,” Merula answered with a smirk.

Rowan gasped, “You can’t say that! You have to call him He Who must Not Be Named!”

“I say what I want and I do what I want,” Merula said.

“You’re lying about my brother having anything to do with the Dark Lord!” Abby yelled. “Jacob hated anything to do with him. He hated people who preached blood superiority. He hated the use of Dark Magic. He’d never work for him.”

“No wonder the professors were talking about you during the feast. They’re wondering if you work for the Dark Lord too,” Merula stated.

“You’re not one to talk about people working for the Dark Lord like that considering your family’s history with him,” Abby smirked. “I might not know much, but I do know for a fact that your family is trouble. More trouble than mine.”

“Says the one who’s father was imprisoned for being an avid supporter of Voldemort!” Merula yelled back.

“I do not share my father’s beliefs,” Abby proclaimed.

“Why don’t you just do everyone a favour and drop out of Hogwarts? Save Slytherin and your friend the embarrassment of being associated with you,” Merula taunted.

“I’d rather be associated with Abby than the likes of you,” Rowan spoke up.

“You’re just afraid that I’m going to be better than you,” Abby said.

“Ha! Like I’d be afraid of a _blood traitor_ like you. Let’s see how you can hold yourself in a duel against me,” Merula raised her wand.

“I don’t want to waste my time on you, Merula. Besides, duelling is prohibited on school grounds,” Abby replied.

“Now who’s scared,” Merula remarked. _“Flipendo!”_

Before Abby even had time to react, Merula had cast the knockback jinx against her which saw her fall onto the ground. As Abby got up, she saw that satisfied look on Merula’s face that she just wanted to knock off.

“Learn a few more spells, Selwyn. Maybe next time you’ll put up a fight,” Merula taunted before strutting off.

“Man, I hate that girl,” Abby growled.

“She’s never going to leave us alone,” Rowan sighed.

“Not unless I can learn more spells and find someone who can teach me how to duel,” Abby stated.

“But I thought you didn’t want to get in trouble?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t, but I don’t want Merula to humiliate me like this. She’s obviously going to be trouble, and I’d much rather be able to hold my ground against her,” Abby replied.

“Why did Merula call you a blood traitor?” Rowan questioned.

“Because I don’t share the typical pure-blood beliefs. I don’t care about any of that nonsense. Blood shouldn’t matter when it comes to magic and people who think like that are fools,” Abby answered.

“Merula seems to think otherwise,” Rowan said.

“I don’t care what that snob thinks. I’d much rather not waste my time on her, but I’m going to have to learn how to protect myself,” Abby proclaimed.

“I’ll help you find a master dueller who can teach you, Abby. If anyone should be the one to put Merula in her place, it should be you,” Rowan smiled.

“Maybe then she’ll finally leave us alone,” Abby grumbled.

Dealing with a school bully was certainly not something that Abby had wanted to deal with at Hogwarts, but considering who her family is Abby really shouldn’t have been surprised that there was someone out to get her. But Abby was not going to let someone like Merula Snyde walk all over her. If Merula thought that she had the upper hand over Abby, she was about to be proven wrong.

~*•°•*~

Not long after her confrontation with Merula at the Clock Tower Courtyard, word had spread about it. Of course it had come from Merula, who gleefully told anybody that would listen about how she had bested the supposed ‘brightest first-year’ at Hogwarts. That had only earned Abby more ridicule, something that she was unfortunately already used to. Their Prefect, Felix Rosier, had also caught wind of the confrontation and had called for both Abby and Rowan to meet him on the training grounds.

“What do you think our Prefect wants to talk to us about?” Rowan wondered.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Merula somehow got us kicked out of Slytherin. Or if our Prefect is going to give us a lecture about duelling on school grounds,” Abby replied.

“It wasn’t much of a duel. It was more like a cheap shot from Merula,” Rowan remarked.

“Either way, I wouldn’t have been able to stand much of a chance against her. I doubt that casting Lumos would do much damage. If only there was a way for me to level up with Merula…” Abby trailed off.

“That’s exactly what I’m here to help you with,” Felix said as he approached them.

“I’m guessing you heard about how Merula ‘humiliated’ me earlier?” Abby asked.

“World travels fast at Hogwarts,” Felix replied. “I wouldn’t be doing my job as Prefect if I didn’t teach you to defend yourself. Even if you insist on fighting with someone from our own house. I’m going to teach you how to duel.”

“But we don’t know any duelling spells…” Abby trailed off.

“Slytherin keeps a secret duelling book in the Artefact Room. It will teach you various spells, potions, and techniques” Felix explained. “Meet me again after you’ve learned a duelling spell, and I’ll teach you everything else you need to know.”

With that, Felix turned on his heel and left the two girls standing there somewhat shocked at his offer. Not only was he encouraging them to break the rules, but he was going to help them do just that. As a Prefect, Abby certainly hadn’t expected that to come from Felix.

“Well, that was surprising,” Abby stated.

“I know! I can’t wait until you learn how to duel so you can shove it in Merula’s face,” Rowan grinned.

“First, we need to find that duelling book,” Abby said.

“Let’s go after Charms. We’ve got Potions now and we can’t afford to get on Snape’s bad side anymore than what we are,” Rowan suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” Abby nodded.

Thanks to Felix, Abby was going to learn how to defend herself against Merula. She almost wished that Jacob had been the one to help her through this, since Abby knew that Jacob would’ve done anything to help her against Merula. But Jacob wasn’t here, and she wasn’t going to let Merula drag his name through the mud anymore than it already had been, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That wasn't the original ending that I had planned for this chapter, but I decided change it because the other one that I had planned didn't really add much to the chapter. Abby's thoughts on Quidditch and flying are basically mine since I don't really get the excitement that comes with Quidditch, lol. As always, let me know what you guys think in the reviews and I'll see you guys next chapter.


	7. Voices in Between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though Christmas has passed for us, Christmas is coming close in the story. I’m not much of a Christmassy person so Abby will be as well, lol. This will be the first part of the story with new additions to the plot, but it won’t be anything drastic or important. These additions were inspired by the Christmas side quest, which almost made no sense because according to the achievement log, the Christmas quest is supposed to take place in year one but we don’t meet Bill until year two, Tonks until year three and Charlie until year four but it’s like we’re already friends with them. Then again, nothing’s ever really made sense with this game.

On the morning of December first, Abby woke up with a sigh. Since it was December, that meant that Christmas was quickly approaching and that soon, Abby would be on a trip back to the Selwyn Manor. As much as Abby would’ve loved to have stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, her father had already written to her and requested that she be home for the holidays. Christmas hadn’t been the same since her mother Constance had died, even more so after Jacob disappeared.

Growing up, Jacob had been more of the celebratory type when it came to holidays like Christmas. He was the reason why Abby even tolerated the holiday, since she never understood the point in celebrating a muggle tradition when they weren’t muggles. Without Jacob around, Abby saw no point in celebrating the pointless holiday so she was a bit of a grinch at this time of the year.

It was clear that Hogwarts went all out for Christmas, since the Great Hall had been decked out with all sorts of decorations and an enormous Christmas Tree amongst them. Almost everyone else seemed to be in a festive mood, especially Rowan who was giddy with excitement.

“I’m so excited to go home for Christmas!” Rowan happily exclaimed.

“That makes one of us,” Abby muttered.

“What’s wrong, Abby? Feeling a little bit like a grinch?” Rowan teased.

“A what?” Abby questioned.

“It’s a muggle character who tries to steal Christmas. He’s got a book called How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Rowan replied.

“Then I guess I am feeling like one,” Abby crossed her arms.

“Oh come on, get into your Christmas spirit. It’s the best holiday of the year! We get presents, everything is all decorated, we can sing Christmas songs and we get to spend it with our family!” Rowan exclaimed before her face fell. “I’m so sorry, Abby. That last comment was insensitive of me.”

“It’s okay, Rowan,” Abby reassured her. “I guess that’s why I’m feeling a bit like a grinch. I’ve never been much of a Christmas fan, but Jacob always made it better.”

“Then I’ll have to make it better for you myself. Once we’ve finished our lessons for the day, I’m taking you outside to have some fun in the snow!” Rowan proclaimed.

“You don’t have to do that, Rowan,” Abby said, not liking the thought of going out in this _snow_.

“The snow is the best part about Christmas, so of course I have to!” Rowan insisted.

“First we have to find the duelling book in the Artefact Room,” Abby pointed out. She’d been waiting to have the chance to find that book since Felix told her to find it, but she hadn’t quite had the opportunity to get it yet.

“Ugh, I completely forgot about that,” Rowan groaned as she dropped her spoon. “We should go check it out now before class.”

Eager to find a way to distract herself, Abby quickly got up with Rowan and they headed towards the Artefact Room. From the few conversations that she’d had with Ben, Abby knew that he often liked to use that room as a place to hide. When they got there, Abby was hoping that they wouldn’t find anything unwanted in the room.

“They say that untold treasures lie in the Artefact Room,” Rowan stated as they walked inside.

“Along with untold odours,” Abby remarked as she covered her nose in disgust at the smell of the room. “Let’s hurry up and find that book.”

“I’ll fight the urge to catalogue every single thing in this room. I’ll probably fail, but at least I’m good at multi-tasking,” Rowan grinned.

“I’ll look over here, you look over there,” Abby pointed in the other direction.

Based on the look of things, it seemed like finding this duelling book was going to be a bit harder than Abby had anticipated. There was no telling what other treasures Abby could discover in here, but the only treasure on her mind was the duelling book.

_Abby._

“What?” Abby turned around to face Rowan.

“What, what?” Rowan questioned.

“You said my name,” Abby stated.

“No, I didn’t,” Rowan replied.

“But I heard a voice,” Abby argued.

“It wasn’t me…” Rowan trailed off.

Abby sighed, “Then it must’ve been my imagination. Let’s just find that book.”

As much as Abby didn’t want to think otherwise, she couldn’t help but think that the voice she’d heard _wasn’t_ in her imagination. It had sounded like the voice came from this very room, but the only two people in here were her and Rowan. Unless there was some ghost lurking around and playing tricks with them.

After what felt like an hour, Abby finally stumbled across something that looked worth checking out. When she looked at the cover, Abby grinned as she realised that she had found the duelling book.

“I found the duelling book!” Abby exclaimed.

“Brilliant! Now we can learn a duelling spell so that our Prefect can teach us to stand up to Merula,” Rowan smiled.

Out of nowhere, Abby suddenly felt like she’d been pulled underneath something even though she knew she was still standing. It felt like Abby was seeing things inside her own mind as a fog swept over her and the voice returned.

_The ice is here. The vault will open._

Within seconds, Abby’s vision became clearer and she could faintly make out what was in front of her. There was a walking suit of armour, a staircase shrouded in mist and ice encasing Hogwarts, spreading faster and faster.

“Ahh!” Abby shrieked.

“Abby! Are you alright?” Rowan asked worriedly.

“I saw something. In my mind…” Abby trailed off. “A walking suit of armour, a staircase shrouded in mist and ice encasing Hogwarts, spreading faster and faster.”

“Ice?” Rowan wondered.

“And I heard the voice again. It said: _the ice is here. The vault will open_ ,” Abby replied nervously.

“That’s peculiar,” Rowan observed.

“You’re wondering if I’m insane, right?” Abby asked.

Rowan shook her head, “No, I still don’t think you’re insane. I’m wondering if your brother also had these visions.”

“Let’s just get out of here and talk about this later. This place gives me the creeps,” Abby muttered.

“And we’ve got Potions first! We can’t be late otherwise Snape will hate us even more,” Rowan said.

Abby snorted, “I’m sure he doesn’t _hate_ you, Rowan. He probably hates me though.”

“Well, let’s not give him any other reason to hate us,” Rowan suggested.

With a Potions class to go to and the duelling book safely hidden in her bag, Abby and Rowan headed out of the Artefact Room. But Abby wasn’t as worried about Potions as she normally was. She was more worried about the vision that she had just had. It wasn’t like anything that she’d experienced before, and it scared her. At least Rowan didn’t think that she was insane, although something that Rowan said did stick with her.

Had Jacob had these visions too?

~*•°•*~

Throughout the rest of the day, Abby had taken a peak at the duelling book at every chance that she got. There were all sorts of spells inside, spells that Abby knew that she wasn’t ready to learn yet. After all, she was only a first year student. But there was one bit of information in the book that caught Abby’s attention, which was something that she wanted to bring up with Rowan before their Charms class for the day.

“It says in here that Professor Flitwick is a champion dueller,” Abby said as she showed Rowan the book.

“You should ask him to teach you something cool!” Rowan suggested. “But you should also learn another spell so that you have something else up your sleeve.”

“I’d like to learn something that would embarrass Merula the way she’s tried to embarrass me since I first got here. Plus, she’s spent all of her time embarrassing other people so it’s about time that she got a taste of her own medicine,” Abby replied.

“Would you mind if I took a look at the book to see if there’s something useful that we could use?” Rowan asked.

Abby shrugged, “Go ahead. We should probably return it by tomorrow so that people don’t start wondering where it is.”

Throughout their Charms lesson for that day, all Abby could think about was how she could possibly approach Professor Flitwick and ask him to teach her something. As a teacher, he would most likely ask her why she wanted to learn a spell, and she couldn’t exactly say that she wanted to use it against another student.

So when class was dismissed and everyone else started leaving the room, Abby suddenly thought that she might as well ask Professor Flitwick while she still had the nerve to do so. It wasn’t like Abby had any other classes for the day, so she had some time to waste.

“Um, excuse me, Professor Flitwick?” Abby addressed him.

“Yes, what is it, Miss Selwyn?” Flitwick asked.

“Well, I’d heard a few rumours about this and I was wondering if it was true that you were a duelling champion before you started teaching at Hogwarts?” Abby asked.

“It’s true,” Flitwick confirmed. “I can Stupefy and Protego with the best of them. I have a shelf of trophies to boost.”

“Do you think that you could teach me something cool?” Abby wondered.

“The Hogwarts curriculum includes lessons on many defensive spells, Miss Selwyn,” Flitwick said.

“I… need some advanced instruction, professor,” Abby stated.

“Tell me then, why do you want to duel?” Flitwick questioned.

“Because duelling has always fascinated me and I’ve always wanted to learn cool spells,” Abby answered, using a bit of her Slytherin characteristics to enforce her lie. Although it wasn’t really a lie, since Abby had always wanted to learn cool spells.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm in duelling, but it is only something that should be used as a last resort,” Flitwick replied.

“Please teach me, Professor. I promise that I won’t let you down,” Abby insisted. When she got no response from her Charms professor, she tried again. “Please. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“I was afraid that things might be difficult for you hear at Hogwarts because of your brothers reputation… I may be able to teach you the finest self-defence spell that I know,” Flitwick conceded.

“Really? Thank you!” Abby exclaimed.

“I will teach you one spell. The dueller’s most essential spell. Expelliarmus. It is used to disarm your opponent without causing them harm or injury,” Flitwick said.

For the next few minutes, Abby stood beside Professor Flitwick as he took her through the Disarming Charm. Having read through the Hogwarts curriculum herself, Abby knew that Expelliarmus was typically taught during second year Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. But if their current DADA professor, a terrified woman by the name of Anneliese Ainsley somehow managed to surpass a year of teaching, there was no way that Abby would be learning this spell anytime soon.

It was safe to say that learning the Disarming Charm was a bit more difficult than Lumos. Abby soon found herself getting the hang of it though and it was clear that Professor Flitwick could see that as well.

“Good, you’ve got the hang of it!” Flitwick observed. “Now lets see if you can cast the Disarming Charm against me.”

“On _you_?” Abby repeated.

“Now!” Flitwick ordered.

Abby readied her wand as she voiced the incantation, “ _Expelliarmus!_ ”

On her first go, Abby managed to disarm her Charms Professor with ease. She almost felt guilty for doing it, but then she reminded herself that Flitwick had encouraged her to do it, and that it was what she needed to do to beat Merula.

“You’ve done it! You’ve truly got a gift for Charms,” Flitwick praised her.

“Thank you so much, Professor Flitwick! This was so cool,” Abby said.

“You might also want to consider practising with Mr Cooper. He’s hesitant, but very skilled,” Flitwick suggested.

Abby nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Promise me that you will only duel if you have no other choice, Miss Selwyn,” Flitwick said.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone unless I have to, so I can’t promise you that, Professor,” Abby replied.

“Duelling is not allowed on school grounds without permission, Miss Selwyn. If you use this spell for anything other than self-defence, I will be forced to recommend your expulsion,” Flitwick stated.

Abby nodded, “I understand.”

Now that she’d learned Expelliarmus, Abby was feeling more confident about her abilities and was beginning to reassure herself she could handle any duel with Merula. But before Abby could deal with Merula, she needed to ensure that she was as best prepared as she could be. It was a good thing that Rowan would find another spell for her to learn and that they’d be learning a healing potion in Potions soon.

~*•°•*~

Just like she’d promised, Abby met up with Rowan in the Clock Tower Courtyard. Only when Abby arrived, there was snow everywhere. It was a little surreal for Abby, since she’d only heard about snow and seen pictures of it. This snow only made it even colder than it already was, which Abby quite liked. She hated warm weather, so winter was her favourite season.

“How’d it go with Flitwick? Did he teach you another spell?” Rowan asked.

“Yes, actually. He taught me the Disarming Charm, Expelliarmus,” Abby replied.

“That’s a great spell! You’ll totally have the upper hand over Merula with that since she probably won’t know it,” Rowan said.

“How’d you like reading the duelling book?” Abby questioned.

“It was great! I even found the perfect spell for you to use against Merula – the Tickling Charm, Rictusempra!” Rowan exclaimed.

“How is the _Tickling Charm_ supposed to humiliate Merula?” Abby wondered.

“Come on, she’d be laughing in front of everyone with no way to stop it! For someone like Merula, that would be awful,” Rowan insisted.

“You do have a point,” Abby agreed.

“We can learn it here together in the snow! It’ll be so much fun,” Rowan suggested.

“Yeah… snow…” Abby trailed off as she looked around awkwardly, only to step away as she saw the snow falling down beside her.

Rowan giggled, “You’re acting like this is the first time you’ve ever seen snow.”

“It is,” Abby admitted.

“Are you kidding me?” Rowan shrieked.

“No,” Abby replied.

“How could you have _not_ seen snow before? Don’t you live in London? Don’t you live in an extravagant mansion with all these grounds that would be perfect for a snowball fight?” Rowan questioned.

“Well, my dad didn’t like us going outside during winter. He didn’t want us getting sick or something so we were never allowed to go outside. The windows were always covered so we could never see outside,” Abby explained.

“That sounds like a very sad childhood,” Rowan remarked.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Abby muttered.

“Okay, forget the Tickling Charm. I’m going to show you how to have fun in the snow – starting by building a snowman,” Rowan said.

Abby narrowed her eyes, “What’s a snowman?”

“It’s a man made out of snow!” Rowan cried.

“But won’t he melt?” Abby wondered.

“Well, yeah,” Rowan replied.

Abby crossed her arms, “Then what’s the point of making one?”

“Because it’s fun! You’ll see!” Rowan insisted.

Reluctantly, Abby was pulled along by Rowan who spent the next half an hour showing her all kinds of things to do in the snow. It was a unique experience, because up until today Abby had never seen snow before in her life. She’d always wondered what it would be like to go outside of her mansion and play in the grounds full of snow. But her father had never allowed that to happen.

Now, Abby was getting that experience. Although she didn’t see the point in some of these activities, they’d certainly had their moments. It was just a shame that when she returned home for Christmas, it wouldn’t be like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was actually after I did my planning for this first part of the story when I wondered what an interaction like this with Rowan would be like. And because I’ve never seen snow before since it doesn’t snow where I live, I thought that I could fit that into the story as well. Winter is also my favourite season, since it means I can wear warm clothes without feeling like I’m gonna die.


	8. Magical Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is slowly becoming just like a side project of mine, since my main focus right now is on my other Avatar fics but I wanted to get this chapter in now. Let me know what you guys are thinking of the story so far if you’re actually reading it.

With Christmas break coming closer and closer, Abby was running out of time to prepare herself for when Merula inevitably challenged her again. Rowan had been distracting her by taking her out to the snow every chance that she got. One thing that Abby realised about the snow was that as much as she loved the cold, she didn’t like the snow. Abby would much rather be inside around a nice, warm fire while drinking some hot chocolate than playing in the snow.

In that time, Abby also tried learning as much as she could so that she was prepared to face Merula. They still had the duelling book in their possession, which Abby had been reviewing as she taught herself the tickling charm. Abby and Rowan were the only ones in their dorm room as Abby taught herself the spell, and she was now confident that she could use it on anyone to send them into a fit of giggles.

“Do you think you’ve got it?” Rowan asked.

“I think so,” Abby nodded.

“Then let’s see it on me,” Rowan said excitedly.

“Are you sure?” Abby checked.

“Of course. You’ve gotta practise it on someone,” Rowan encouraged her.

Since Rowan had told her she could, Abby gave her wand a flick as she cast Rictusempra on Rowan. Within seconds Rowan was in a fit of giggles and was finding it impossible to control the magically enforced laughter.

“I can’t stop laughing!” Rowan cried with laughter.

“This would be so much better if it was used on Merula,” Abby remarked.

“I can’t wait to see you use it on her in a duel,” Rowan said between laughs.

“Let’s go down and see if we can find Felix,” Abby suggested.

“As soon as I stop laughing,” Rowan replied.

Once the magically enforced laughter had stopped, Rowan followed after Abby as they went off to search for Felix. He had told them to meet him in the courtyard once they had learned some decent spells and were ready to face him, which Abby was confident for.

“There you are,” Felix greeted them as they found him alone. “Did you learn any good spells?”

“I learned Rictusempra and Expelliarmus,” Abby replied.

“The Tickling Charm _and_ the Disarming Charm? I’m impressed,” Felix remarked. “But the best way to teach you both how to duel is have you duel each other.”

“Are you okay with this, Rowan?” Abby turned to her.

“What if I get hurt?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t want you guys getting hurt either, but that’s apart of learning how to duel. Now, let’s get started,” Felix stated.

“Let’s do this then,” Rowan proclaimed.

Taking out their wands, Abby and Rowan prepared themselves to duel. Abby first hit Rowan with a sneaky attack and cast Rictusempra on her before hitting her with the Disarming Charm. Rowan managed to sneak in the Tickling Charm as well, but Abby was able to finish her off with Flipendo, which she had also managed to teach herself to catch up with Merula.

 _“Flipendo!”_ Abby chanted.

Rowan fell to the ground with a thud, and it was clear that Abby had been victorious. Once Abby checked to see if she was okay, they turned to face Felix to see what he had to say next.

“Well done,” Felix praised them. “Now you’ll both be able to defend yourselves and properly represent Slytherin.”

“And once I’m ready, I’ll be able to put Merula in her place,” Abby smirked.

“You’re already representing Slytherin well with our trademark smirk,” Felix remarked.

“This was something I grew up with,” Abby replied. She had gotten the smirk from Jacob, something that he always did whenever he got into trouble.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to prepare yourselves for what’s next. If you need me again, just come to me,” Felix said before walking off.

“What do we do now?” Rowan asked.

“Now, we wait for the perfect opportunity to put Merula in her place. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it for others to see that she’s not all that,” Abby replied.

That was exactly what Abby did, since she spent the next few days waiting patiently for the right moment to strike against Merula. It wasn’t long before an opportunity presented itself after word had spread of a conflict in the courtyard, with Merula as the instigator.

“What’s going on, Rowan?” Abby asked as she approached the commotion.

“Merula keeps threatening Ben Cooper. He’s trying to get away, but she won’t let him go,” Rowan explained.

“You’re an embarrassment to everyone in our year!” Merula yelled as she held out her wand.

“Just leave me alone,” Ben pleaded.

“Disgusting Mudbloods like you shouldn’t be allowed at Hogwarts!” Merula seethed. “Leave the magic to real witches and wizards.”

“That’s enough, Merula!” Abby yelled as she stood in between. “If you want to fight anyone, then fight me!”

“You never learn do you, Selwyn? Why don’t you just be like your brother and disappear?” Merula taunted.

“You’re the one who everyone wishes would disappear,” Abby remarked.

“Make me,” Merula growled.

“You asked for it,” Abby shrugged as she pulled out her wand and cast the first spell. “ _Rictusempra!”_

“Ha-ha! The _Tickling Charm?_ You’ll ha-ha have to do better than that!” Merula said between laughter.

After regaining control of herself, Merula was quick to cast Flipendo against Abby. Rowan called for Abby to be careful, and Abby declared that she wouldn’t let Merula hurt anyone else. That sparked another duel between Abby and Merula except this time, they were far more evenly matched.

To start herself off, Abby drank a Wiggenweld Potion to give her an advantage against Merula, who counteracted with Flipendo. Their duel ensued as Abby cast Rictusempra against her and added Flipendo as well. She found it strangely satisfying to see the flustered look on Merula’s face as she stood her ground. Despite Merula’s best effort, Abby was able to make her mark before she finished her off with Expelliarmus.

“Expelliarmus? That’s not fair! How did you learn that spell already?” Merula demanded.

“Great job, Abby!” Rowan cheered from the crowd.

“You can’t be better than me! Nobody can be better than me!” Merula exclaimed.

“I beat you fair and square, Merula,” Abby crossed her arms. “Now apologise to Ben and stop being such a cow.”

“I’ll never apologise to you losers and Mudbloods! I’m Merula Snyde, fourth generation Slytherin and the greatest witch at Hogwarts! I do what I want when I want!” Merula declared.

As Merula ranted, the colour drained from Abby’s face as she spotted Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick approaching them. The chances were that they had seen what just happened and now, they were about to get punished for it.

“Ahem,” Snape interrupted Merula’s rant.

“P-professor Snape!” Merula exclaimed as she backed away.

“I’m assuming that this is your fault, Selwyn. Are you not aware of Hogwarts policies regarding duelling?” Snape said.

“Yes…” Abby trailed off.

“Did you cast the first spell in the duel, Abby?” Flitwick asked.

“I only did it because Merula was bullying everyone. Somebody had to stand up to her,” Abby replied.

“I warned you, Miss Selwyn. There will be dire consequences for your actions,” Flitwick stated.

“And I wonder where she learned the Disarming Charm,” Snape glanced at Flitwick. “Clean yourselves up, and see me in the West Towers to face the consequences of your actions, Selwyn.”

Snape and Flitwick walked away, with Merula following them as she gave Abby a smirk. The crowd started to disperse, leaving just Abby, Rowan and Ben behind.

“Are you okay, Ben?” Abby asked.

“I’m fine, thanks to you, Abby,” Ben murmured.

“Now I’ve got to go and get yelled at even more. And of course, Merula walked away with no punishment,” Abby groaned.

“At least you stood up to her. You were great,” Rowan smiled.

“Thanks,” Abby said.

Not wanting to get into anymore trouble than she was already in, Abby headed off to the West Towers to face whatever punishment was install for her. As Abby was walking down, she spotted the popular Hufflepuff, Penny Heywood, standing there. To Abby’s surprise, Penny went to approach her.

“Hello, Abby Selwyn,” Penny greeted her.

“You know who I am?” Abby asked.

“Does that surprise you?” Penny questioned.

“Yeah, I mean, you’re Penny Heywood, the most popular girl in our year, and I’m… not exactly popular,” Abby mumbled.

“I disagree, Abby. Everyone is talking about the hero who was brave enough to stand up to the bullying of Merula Snyde. Not to mention all of the rumours surrounding your brother…” Penny said.

“Did you want something?” Abby wondered.

“I wanted to say thank you. Hogwarts is supposed to be fun, but Merula was making it miserable. I especially appreciate how you used your wits to stop her from bullying Ben Cooper,” Penny smiled.

“Someone had to do something,” Abby stated.

“I agree, but you were the one who did. I hope that Professor Snape doesn’t punish you for just doing what is right,” Penny said.

“You and me both,” Abby muttered.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with, Abby. It’s safe to say I know what word goes around Hogwarts and I’d have to say I’m pretty good at potions too,” Penny grinned.

“I’ll remember that. Thanks, Penny,” Abby replied.

“Thanks again, Abby. I’ll see you around,” Penny smiled again before walking off.

Up ahead, Abby noticed Merula and Professor Snape standing together. That was a surprise to her, since she had thought that Merula had gotten off without getting into trouble. Based on the look that Snape was giving her, that wasn’t the case.

“Now that Miss Selwyn is here, we can discuss your punishment,” Snape said once she arrived. “Expulsion seems to be the most logical option.”

“I had nothing to do with it, Professor. I was only defending myself after this nutcase attacked me,” Merula argued.

“Everyone saw you cast the first spell, Miss Snyde. This, however, does not excuse Selwyn’s behaviour…” Snape trailed off. “Since you arrived, you have fought in the corridor, made a mess of my classroom, and duelled on school grounds. This, after the damage your brother did to Hogwarts. Why shouldn’t you receive the harshest punishment for your actions, Selwyn?”

“I was standing up for my friends. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Abby replied.

“Attacking a student with your wand is against school rules. You quite literally did do something wrong. Twenty points from Slytherin,” Snape scolded her. “As I said, expulsion is the logical punishment for duelling on school grounds. Unfortunately, our Headmaster is illogical, and believes that expulsion is _unfair_ in this case. If either of you is caught are ever caught duelling on school grounds again, I can assure you that you will not be so lucky.”

As soon as Snape said that, Abby spotted Mr Filch approaching them. Abby knew that Mr Filch wasn’t exactly the nicest person at Hogwarts, and she had been fortunate enough to not have crossed paths with him yet.

“What is it, Mr Filch?” Snape asked.

“Professor Snape, you must come with me right away. It’s about… the _vaults_ ,” Filch replied.

Snape turned back to face them, “Return to the Slytherin Common Room immediately.”

A dozen questions instantly went through Abby’s mind. Did Filch just say the _vaults_? Was he referring to the same vaults that Jacob was searching for? If so, then why was he talking about them?

“They must be talking about the vaults!” Merula exclaimed once they walked away.

“What could she know about the Cursed Vaults? Maybe I should follow her…” Abby murmured.

This wasn’t what Abby had wanted to do. She hadn’t wanted to get involved in the mess that Jacob did. But if Merula was involved, that couldn’t be good. Abby had to make sure that she wasn’t up to no good.

So against her better judgement, she followed Merula down the corridor. Abby found her listening to Filch and Snape’s conversation, which she also decided to listen in on as well.

“Get out of here,” Merula hissed.

“How about you be quiet?” Abby muttered.

Surprisingly, Merula didn’t have any snide comment in response to that. Instead, they just sat there and carefully listened to the conversation. Filch and Snape were standing beside some door, a door with ice all around it.

“Who else knows about this?” Snape asked.

“Only me and Mrs Norris saw the ice, sir. Was going to report the incident to the Headmaster, I was,” Filch replied.

“I will inform Professor Dumbledore,” Snape stated. “This may have to do with the Selwyn situation.”

“Is it true that the vaults are filled with gold and powerful prophecies and artefacts from before Hogwarts existed? And that’s why the Selwyn boy lost his mind trying to find them?” Filch queried.

“Don’t worry about what’s inside the vaults. Worry about keeping everyone out. Look this door, and keep it guarded,” Snape ordered.

More questions went through Abby’s mind. What was the _Selwyn_ situation? Obviously it was referring to her brother, but Abby wanted to know what exactly it was referring to.

“What is the Selwyn situation?” Abby wondered out loud.

“Who cares? This is another clue to the Cursed Vaults,” Merula smirked.

“ _You_ think the Cursed Vaults are real? And _you’re_ trying to find them?” Abby narrowed her eyes. “You always call my brother mad for doing the exact same thing.”

“Even if I cared to explain myself to an idiot, I wouldn’t do it here, and risk getting caught by two of the meanest people at Hogwarts,” Merula replied.

In saying that, Merula walked off and Abby figured that she might as well do the same. At the same time, Abby couldn’t help but think about the conversation that Filch and Snape just had. It had left her with a million questions that she knew would keep her up at night.

~*•°•*~ 

By the time that Abby had got back to the Slytherin Common Room, Rowan was already asleep so Abby had just went to her own bed as well. Sure enough, Abby was kept up all night with thoughts of Jacob, Merula and the Cursed Vaults. The thoughts from Merula were about why she was so interested in the Cursed Vaults and what on earth was the Selwyn situation. The next morning, Abby found Rowan outside the Great Hall. As soon as Rowan saw Abby, she ran up to her.

“Abby!” Rowan exclaimed as she ran up to her. “What happened? Did you get expelled? Are you alright?”

“I didn’t get expelled and I’m completely fine. I just lost Slytherin another twenty points,” Abby reassured her. “Although, something strange happened after I got my lecture from Snape.”

“What?” Rowan asked.

“Filch came up to him and told him about the vaults. Merula followed them, so I followed as well. They were near this corridor that had ice around it and started talking about the Selwyn situation,” Abby explained.

“The Selwyn situation?” Rowan repeated. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know. I’m assuming that it’s referring to my brother. But they were talking about the vaults. Filch started wondering if the treasure inside of it was why Jacob lost his mind,” Abby said.

“Do _you_ think that your brother lost his mind?” Rowan wondered.

“To be honest, I don’t think that Jacob lost his mind. When he said goodbye to me, he was like how he always was. I think that’s just some fabricated story to smear my family’s name even more,” Abby replied.

“Do you think that this is something we should look into?” Rowan questioned.

“Merula appears to be interested in the vaults as well so maybe we should. Considering what things seem like, maybe we should look into it. Whatever her intentions are, I’m sure that they can’t be good,” Abby said.

“But we don’t even know anything about the Cursed Vaults,” Rowan pointed out.

“We should start by investigating the corridor where Filch and Snape were talking. Maybe we could find a clue there,” Abby suggested.

“What if we get in trouble?” Rowan asked.

“We won’t get in trouble if we don’t get caught, which we won’t,” Abby reassured her.

After some reluctance from Rowan, she and Abby went to investigate the corridor. Luckily for them, they had found it unguarded which meant that they could roam around for as long as they could.

“This is where Snape and Filch were talking…” Abby trailed off.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts, Abby,” Rowan admitted. “If Snape told Filch to stay on guard, he’ll be back soon. The stories I’ve heard about how he punishes misbehaving children make Snape look like a pleasant Hufflepuff. Are you sure we should be searching this corridor?”

“I’m sure that Snape would be spewing potions if he heard you say that,” Abby remarked. “We’ll be fine as long as we hurry, and stay aware of our surroundings.”

“Okay, I trust you, Abby,” Rowan smiled. “Besides, I don’t think I could forgive myself for not taking the opportunity to inspect a forbidden corridor in Hogwarts.”

“Wait! Did you hear someone at the end of the corridor?” Abby exclaimed.

“I heard something,” Rowan gasped. “Based on my research, there are at least twenty-one different entities that could be roaming the corridors at night, and every one of them is potentially terrifying.”

“What should we do, Abby?” Rowan asked.

“Let’s just search this place as fast as we can and, hope that whatever it is isn’t coming this way,” Abby stated.

They did just that and searched the empty corridor. There wasn’t really that much to find, since it was just a corridor. But Abby knew from the stories that Jacob had told her that there were many secret passages hidden at Hogwarts. Whenever he came home, Jacob always told her everything about Hogwarts although in hindsight, he hadn’t told her absolutely everything since he had failed to mention the Cursed Vaults to her.

The first time that Abby had heard about the Cursed Vaults was when she found out that Jacob had been expelled. It had been spread everywhere that Jacob had gone insane because of the Cursed Vaults, and Abby liked to think that Jacob was somewhere out there and _wasn’t_ insane. What was insane was how Abby knew that there was something in this corridor, but she couldn’t find it.

“We aren’t going to be able to figure out what’s really going on unless we get inside that room,” Abby stated after they stopped searching.

“An impenetrable lock, a mysterious door, and the constant threat of being caught by Filch. Getting into that room seems impossible, Abby,” Rowan remarked.

“I’ll find a way, but I’ll need your help,” Abby said.

Rowan smiled, “I’m always here to help, but –“

“Shh!” Abby interrupted. “Someone’s coming!”

“Not someone. Something…” Rowan trailed off.

That ‘something’ turned about to be a cat. And not just any cat, it was Filch’s cat, Mrs Norris. Abby had seen the cat with Filch when he was talking to Snape and she knew that Mrs Norris was its name.

“That’s Mrs Norris!” Abby exclaimed.

“She alerts Filch when students are misbehaving on school grounds,” Rowan added.

“In that case, we better stop misbehaving,” Abby suggested.

As Mrs Norris hissed at them, Abby and Rowan ran off so that they wouldn’t get caught. Only once they were sure that they were far away from that corridor and back in the Slytherin Common Room did they stop running.

“I don’t think we should go down that corridor again,” Rowan whispered.

“At least, until after the Christmas holidays,” Abby said.

“You want to go back in there again? Why would you want to risk getting caught?” Rowan hissed.

“Because that doors hiding something, Rowan. I don’t know what, but I know that it has something to do with the Cursed Vaults. And Merula seems to want to find them and who knows what she’d do with whatever is inside? Besides, this could help me find out what happened to Jacob,” Abby replied.

“I thought that you didn’t want to get in trouble at Hogwarts,” Rowan pointed out.

“I do, but I can’t get in trouble unless I get caught, which I won’t,” Abby insisted.

“You mean _we_ won’t get caught,” Rowan wrapped her arm around her.

“Are you sure you want to get involved? This could get dangerous,” Abby wondered.

“It could be dangerous, but you’re doing it. So, I’ll do it as well,” Rowan nodded.

“Alright, then,” Abby said, feeling glad that she had Rowan’s support. Anyone else probably would’ve called her crazy like her brother, but not Rowan.

“What are we going to do?” Rowan asked.

“For now, we’ll just sit back and wait for the Christmas holidays. Then when we come back next year, we’ll begin investigating the corridor to see what secrets are hiding behind it,” Abby proclaimed.

When she first got to Hogwarts, Abby never wanted to get into trouble like Jacob had, but she’d already gotten into plenty of trouble without even trying. So, Abby saw no point in avoiding the drama with the Cursed Vaults because she’d already found herself in the drama with Jacob. Besides, if Merula was after the Cursed Vaults, Abby knew that it couldn’t be for anything good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the mystery really begins! I’ve kind of changed these chapters from how they were originally planned, but I think that sometimes it’s better to change things than stick to what’s planned. This happens all the time with my writing, since there have been plenty of chapters that I’ve changed from the original outline. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.


	9. Christmas Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s kind of funny how I’m just taking my precious time to get this story out just like how they’re taking their precious time to finish year five. It just seems to be getting longer and longer, just like this story will. This chapter takes place during Christmas break, so there won’t be any mischief at Hogwarts in here.

Christmas at the Selwyn Manor was usually a quiet affair. Abby’s father, Rogelius had never been that much of a fan of the holidays, which was why she and Jacob had been forbidden to leave the house at that time. Their mother, Constance, was usually a bit more cheerier around the holidays. She would at least make them hot chocolate and allowed them to get into the festive spirit. Those were the better times when their father was still in prison. Abby missed those times. She missed Jacob.

Sighing, Abby leaned back against the chair in her fathers study as she waited for him to arrive. Her house elf, Ziggy, had informed Abby upon her arrival that her father wanted to see her as soon as he got back from work. Abby knew that he most likely wanted to see her to lecture her about behaving at school, since she was well aware that her father had been informed of her misbehaviour.

So when her father arrived via Floo network and sent a piercing flare her way, Abby braced herself for the lecture that she was bound to receive. She just hoped that that was all she would get.

“You’ve only been at Hogwarts for four months and you’ve already gotten into trouble on several occasions, Abelia. You have shown a complete disregard for their rules and have shown yourself to be too much like your brother. I knew that letting you go to that school was a mistake, especially after the mess that your wretched brother got into,” Rogelius snarled.

“I didn’t ask to get in trouble, father. There’s this girl – Merula Snyde – and I swear she’s out to get me! She’s the reason why I’ve gotten into so much trouble,” Abby tried defending herself, but her father was having none of it.

“You are to address me as _sir_ ,” Rogelius growled as he wacked Abby’s chair with a cane, causing her to flinch at the very sight of it.

“I’m sorry, _sir_ ,” Abby apologised uncomfortably, since referring to her father as sir just felt so strange. She was only allowed to refer to him as father when they were out in public. When they were at home alone, it was sir and nothing more or less was acceptable.

“Did it not occur to you to not allow that Snyde girl to wind you up? Did you not think to just keep your head down and do your school work? I’ve already had words with Professor Snape who’s said that you’re barely a competent student just like you are as useless as a daughter!” Rogelius ranted.

Of course her father would blame her for stuff that wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t Abby’s fault that she had gotten into trouble. Merula was the one who was doing this to her, and Abby hated her even more for that. And Abby was trying in class, she really was. She just found it hard to get any work done with Merula constantly on her case. One time, Merula had spilt ink all over her Transfiguration essay on the day that it was due. With no time to whip up another one, Abby had been forced to hand in nothing which resulted in her receiving detention from Professor McGonagall.

“I thought I raised you better than to let people affect your behaviour, Abelia. You should not allow someone as pathetic as Snyde to do this to you. You should be better than this, yet you are not,” Rogelius said.

“I’m trying my best, sir,” Abby argued.

“Well, your best just isn’t good enough like it never is! Why couldn’t you have a bright future in the Ministry like Marcius or strived for greater things like Adelphus? Why couldn’t you have turned out like your cousins instead of like your pathetic brother?” Rogelius seethed.

“I don’t know,” Abby murmured.

“Well, you should know that your cousins will be coming over for the holidays as well as your aunts and uncles. I expect you to be on your best behaviour, like the way that I had raised you to be. Now _leave_ ,” Rogelius ordered.

Not wanting to infuriate her father more than she already had, Abby quickly got up and left her fathers study. Once she entered her room, Abby couldn’t help the grin that appeared on her face as she remembered what her father had said. Her cousins were coming over, which meant that Abby would be able to see Octavia again. Of all her cousins, Octavia was her favourite one. She reminded her of Jacob in a way.

Maybe Christmas wouldn’t be so bad this year.

~*•°•*~ 

Over the break, Abby kept in contact with Rowan who owled her almost every day which made it almost impossible for Abby to keep up to date. Since her father never liked her receiving letters, Abby had instructed her house elf, Ziggy, to intercept them and give them to her in private. To Abby’s surprise, Rowan wasn’t the only one who had written to her. Ben had written to her to say thanks again for standing up to Merula and Penny Haywood did the same as well. Even Merula had sent her a letter, except Merula’s later was basically hate mail.

When December 24th arrived, Abby was the most excited that she’d been on Christmas Eve in years. Her relatives would be spending the night before spending Christmas with them on the following day. Usually her father would go off to spend the holidays with his family and leave Abby alone with the company of their butler and the house elves. For this Christmas, Abby would have the company of more than just that.

“There you are, little cous,” Abby’s cousin, Octavia, greeted her upon her arrival.

“Hey, Tavi,” Abby smiled. It was rare of her to smile, but she always smiled when Octavia was around.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been at your place. The last time would have to have been when I was thirteen,” Octavia mused.

“It hasn’t changed that much since then,” Abby remarked.

“No, but you have certainly changed since the last time I saw you. You’ve grown!” Octavia exclaimed.

“The last time we saw each other was after your graduation, so it’s only been a few months. I couldn’t have grown _that_ much,” Abby said.

“No, you’re definitely another inch taller,” Octavia chuckled.

“Who even notices that?” Abby wondered.

“Me,” Octavia shrugged. “Painters are supposed to pay attention to detail.”

“But you’re not a painter,” Abby stated.

“Yeah…” Octavia trailed off.

It was then that Abby realised her mistake. She’d just basically thrown her cousin’s pipe dream right back in her face. For as long as Abby could remember, Octavia had wanted to be a painter. She’d always been good at painting, and often showed Abby some of what she did. But Octavia couldn’t be a painter, since she was expected to get a job in the ministry like her brother, Marcius.

“I’m sorry, Tavi,” Abby apologised.

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean anything behind it,” Octavia reassured her. “Now, what’s this I hear about you following in your brothers footsteps at Hogwarts? I’d imagine that your father isn’t exactly happy about that.”

“You’d have that right,” Abby muttered

“So, come on. Tell me everything,” Octavia urged as they sat down on Abby’s bed.

“It’s this stupid girl, Merula Snyde. I swear, she’s trying to ruin my life. Not that many people at Hogwarts like me anyways because they think that I’m mad like Jacob, but Merula Snyde is the worst out of all of them. Every time that I’ve gotten into trouble, it’s been her fault,” Abby ranted.

“Ah, I remember the letter that you sent me about her. And I was able to do some digging and find out about her family,” Octavia said.

“Really? What’d you find out?” Abby asked.

“Her parents were imprisoned for crimes surrounding You-Know-Who. They even tortured a few people on information for the prophecy about Harry Potter. The Snydes weren’t exactly in his inner circle, but they were devoted to the Dark Lord. They were imprisoned for life after a mass murder on muggles before the Dark Lord’s attack on the Potters. As for their daughter, I’m fairly certain that she lives with her aunt now,” Octavia explained.

“That almost makes me feel sorry for Merula, knowing that she’s never going to be with her parents again,” Abby mumbled.

“Either way, you should definitely be careful around her. If Snyde is anything like her parents, she’ll be just as dangerous and ruthless as them which could prove to be problematic to you,” Octavia said.

“It already is problematic for me,” Abby muttered.

“Just don’t let her get to you, Abby. As much as Merula Snyde might be a deranged girl fed by her parents lies, she could also be going through some stuff on her own. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned as I’ve grown up, it’s that not everything is as black and white as it seems,” Octavia proclaimed.

“I wish Jacob was here to see me grow up,” Abby whispered.

“I’m sure he’s out there somewhere, Abby,” Octavia squeezed her shoulder. “He probably thinks of you just as much as you think of him.”

“What was Jacob like at school besides being obsessed with the Cursed Vaults? He never told me much about anything other than what trouble he got into and the excitement of Hogwarts,” Abby wondered. Octavia had been at Hogwarts at the same time as Jacob, except she was a year older than her cousin.

“He was definitely a trouble maker. Snape started teaching in Jacob’s fourth year and out of all the professors, Snape was the happiest to see Jacob go. I could count the amount of times that Jacob blew up the Potions Classroom on more than one finger. He of course had his partners in crime that were Olivia Green and Duncan Ashe. He even tried getting me involved on some of his schemes, but the most I ever did was be on the lookout and covered for him. Unlike Jacob, I actually cared about following the rules,” Octavia recalled.

“He didn’t really mention having any friends,” Abby interjected, having never heard the names Olivia Green and Duncan Ashe before.

“Olivia Green was a Ravenclaw in Jacob’s year. I’m not sure if she’d still be at Hogwarts for her final year, since there was talk about her being expelled as well since she was involved with the Cursed Vaults. She disappeared after Jacob did as well and I haven’t heard anything about her since. As for Duncan Ashe, I’m pretty sure that he’s still at Hogwarts except you’ll probably never find him,” Octavia supplied.

“Why?” Abby narrowed her eyes.

“Because he’s a ghost,” Octavia stated, causing Abby’s eyes to widen. “Of course, he wasn’t always a ghost in the time that he knew Jacob. They were best friends from his first day at Hogwarts to his last. He was one of the schools most notorious trouble makers in the joke department. Nobody knows how he really died, but some people speculate that your brother and Olivia were involved.”

“No,” Abby shook her head immediately. “There’s no way that Jacob would ever kill someone, just like he’d never join Voldy’s army. He especially wouldn’t kill someone who was his friend.”

“I’m not saying that Jacob killed him, that’s just what people seem to think happened. The only people who know what happened to Duncan Ashe are Duncan Ashe, your brother and possibly Olivia Green,” Octavia said before she chuckled. “And _Voldy?_ Seriously?”

“It’s what Jacob called him. I wish I knew more about what Jacob did other than the Cursed Vaults,” Abby sighed.

“If it’s any help, I know that he used to keep some secret notes in a book that he’d transfigure into anything in case he was caught,” Octavia informed her.

“Jacob always did have fun with Transfiguration. There were plenty of times when he’d use it to change some of fathers objects to confuse him. As much as my fathers rage is scary, it was hilarious seeing him be so frazzled which is just so unlike him,” Abby recalled.

“How angry is your father nowadays? Whenever I see him, he just has this wazzed off look on his face,” Octavia said.

“He was very angry the first time I saw him, because of all the trouble that I’ve been getting into. As much as I try to justify my actions, he doesn’t believe me just like he never does,” Abby grumbled.

“Speaking of trouble, I thought you said that you didn’t want to be like Jacob was as a student and that you weren’t going to cause trouble, but that’s exactly what you’ve done,” Octavia stated.

“It wasn’t my intention, honestly. I just wanted to go to Hogwarts to have a break from home and have a normal schooling experience without any bullies or Cursed Vaults. But I guess I was naïve to think that would be the case given who my family is,” Abby answered.

“Well, you need to be careful, Abs. If you keep on getting into trouble, you’ll end up just like Jacob did and I know that your father won’t be happy with that,” Octavia reasoned.

“But I _need_ to know what happened to Jacob. If getting involved with the Cursed Vaults will help me find the answers about my brother, then that’s what I’ll do. And besides, Merula Snyde is also after the Cursed Vaults so if she’s just like her parents, that can’t be good,” Abby said.

“Wait, Snyde is after the vaults as well?” Octavia narrowed her eyes.

Abby shrugged, “I don’t know why, but it’s ironic considering she calls Jacob mad for doing the same thing. Since she’s been nothing but bad so far, her intentions have to be the same.”

Octavia sighed, “If there’s nothing that I can say to convince you otherwise, then I’ll let you do what you need to do. Just don’t get yourself involved into anything that you’ll regret or that will put you and those you care about in danger.”

“I won’t,” Abby promised.

That was one of those promises that Abby wasn’t sure if she could keep, since if Abby was going to continue getting involved in the Cursed Vaults then the chances were that she would end up doing something that would put her in danger. But Abby certainly wouldn’t let anyone else get caught in the crossfire, since she wasn’t sure if she could live with herself if she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter, but I didn’t really know what else to put in there apart form Abby’s conversation with Octavia. In my original plan, I wanted the timeline to be that Jacob would’ve been at Hogwarts with Abby in her first year had he not been expelled, but I let the Olivia Green plothole slide past so I added it in that she also ran away. I’m not going to be adding Duncan Ashe into the story that early either, since he doesn’t serve that much of a purpose right now. On another note, I started reading the Philosophers Stone and I’m up to Chapter 14. There is also yet another Harry Potter movie re-run on TV right now so I’ve definitely got enough Harry Potter in my life right now.


	10. School Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we’re back at Hogwarts now for the rest of year one. The rest of the first year will mostly follow what happened in the game with a few subtle changes here and there. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Returning back to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays had been far too easy for Abby. She'd been ready to go back to Hogwarts the day she left cv cv mv and had only wished that she'd been able to spend the holidays at school. But Abby was glad to be back, and she was ready to throw herself back into school, although by that she didn't mean schoolwork. All throughout her break, Abby had thought about the Cursed Vaults and the corridor that they had found. It seemed to be the same for Rowan since as soon as they sat together on the train, Rowan was talking about her thoughts as if she'd read her mind.

"So I tried doing some research on the Cursed Vaults over the break," Rowan said.

"What did you find out?" Abby asked curiously.

Rowan sighed, "Nothing. All I could find were the articles about your brother. Most of the information that I tried finding said that the Cursed Vaults don't even exist."

"But they have to. How would that explain everything that happened when Jacob messed around with them? And what about the ice in the corridor? For that to happen something has to be going on," Abby argued.

"What are we even going to do about this, Abby? We're just kids and we have no idea what to do," Rowan said.

"We'll think of something, Rowan. For now I think it's best that we just settle back into school and keep attention away from ourselves. Then when we come up with something, we can check out the corridor again," Abby stated.

"Staying out of trouble sounds nice," Rowan murmured. "I just hope that Merula doesn't drag us into any."

"Considering what's happened so far, I wouldn't be surprised if she does," Abby remarked.

Although Abby hadn't wanted to go home for the holidays, she was glad to have that time away from Merula since it meant that she didn't have to worry about the other girl getting her into anymore trouble. Abby was hoping that coming back from the holidays, Merula wouldn't be that much of an issue but Abby had a slight feelings that her problems with Merula were only going to be the beginning.

Much to Abby's annoyance, Merula was already in the Slytherin Common Room when Abby went down there the following day. If Abby didn't know any better, she'd say that Merula was waiting for her.

"So, Selwyn. I see that you haven't left already," Merula acknowledged her.

"Why would I? I'm allowed to be here so I have every right to be here," Abby replied.

"I would've thought that after your humiliating performance last term that you would've done us all a favour and left by now," Merula remarked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Merula, but weren't  _you_  the one who was humiliated after you lost our duel?" Abby smirked.

Merula stomped her feet on the ground, "That was a warm-up, Selwyn. You'll soon realise that not everyone is going to worship the ground you walk on. Just you wait, sooner or later I'm going to take you by surprise and put you in your place."

"If anyone needs to be put in their place it's you, Merula," Abby crossed her arms.

"Ugh, you're a nuisance, Selwyn!" Merula exclaimed before stomping off.

If anyone was a nuisance, it was Merula. Just as Abby had suspected, Merula didn't seem to be backing down from this feud that she had started. And if her threat was anything to go by, she wasn't done with Abby just yet. Merula wasn't the only one who wasn't done with Abby, since she soon enough found herself cornered by Felix.

"As impressive as how you handled Merula was, was it really worth doing that just to lose us yet  _another_ twenty house points?" Felix asked.

"It was worth it to see Merula be put in her place like she deserved. But I promise that I'll try to stay out of trouble this time around, Felix. I'll get us those house points back," Abby promised.

"You better. Everyone in Slytherin is suffering because of your mistakes. You're ruining any chance we have of winning the House Cup," Felix scolded her.

"Well, what do you suggest I do?" Abby demanded.

"Go to class. Focus on your schoolwork. Do everything in your power to earn more House Points. And I know this is very difficult for you, but please stay out of trouble," Felix ordered.

"Trouble seems to find me wherever I go," Abby grumbled. "But I really will try."

"Do better than try. You have Potions and Charms class today. Get to your classes on time, and get Slytherin more House Points," Felix commanded.

Since she really had no other choice, Abby did just that and headed to Charms class as her first lesson for the day. As she headed there, it was obvious that Abby had earned quite the reputation following her duel with Merula. Practically everyone avoided her and stayed clear of her path, and the Slytherins in particular were quite rough on her. Abby hadn't even made it to Charms and she already had mess in her hair from who knows what had been flung at her. She'd chosen not to look back at that.

"Ah, Miss Selwyn. You are excused from today's lesson," Flitwick greeted her.

"What? Why?" Abby asked.

"Today's spell is the Knockback Jinx. It's sometimes used in duelling and can be incredibly painful to its victim. Given your history, I think it's best not to teach you this spell now," Flitwick replied.

Abby shrugged, "If you really knew my history you'd know that I already taught myself that spell. I thought I came to Hogwarts to learn from the best. What is the point of me even being here if you won't teach me anything? I'd be better off teaching myself everything at this point."

Flitwick sighed, "I was afraid that this would be difficult for you, Miss Selwyn. You are right after all, you came to Hogwarts to learn from us and it is unfair for us to deny you that right. I suppose it would be safer anyways if you learned the proper instruction. Please, take your seat."

Smirking to herself in a true Slytherin fashion, Abby took her seat next to Rowan who looked thoroughly surprised at what Abby had just done. Abby was surprised that it had been as easy as it was to convince Flitwick otherwise. Either she's that good of a manipulator or Flitwick is just easily swayed.

"Did you really just manipulate a professor right into your hands?" Rowan asked.

"Yep," Abby smirked as she began going over her notes.

On the other side of the room, Abby spotted Ben sitting nervously in his seat. He was no doubt nervous about having to do the Knockback Jinx, but Abby had a feeling that he would fair alright with it given his knack for Charms. As for flying, that definitely wasn't Ben's forte but it suddenly gave Abby an idea on how to help Ben and hopefully get back some of those House Points that she'd lost.

"Hey, Rowan," Abby said.

"Mhm," Rowan murmured.

"Do you reckon you could find some books on flying? I want to help Ben get over his fear and I think learning about it from books would help him," Abby stated.

"I guess I could look for some in the library," Rowan agreed. "But do you really think it's wise to teach Ben Cooper how to fly? He's a coward."

"But he's a Gryffindor," Abby pointed out. "He might be scared of well… everything, but he's bound to have some courage inside of him. The Sorting Hat had to have put him in there for a reason."

"If you think this'll work, then I'll look for some books during lunch," Rowan said.

"Alright, class," Flitwick addressed everyone. "Today we will be learning the Knockback Jinx – an excellent spell for pushing people out of the way. Let us begin!"

Since Abby had already taught herself the Knockback Jinx, she barely paid attention to what Flitwick said until it was time to demonstrate. The entire time, Abby was using her cunning ambition to come up with a clever way to get into that room without having to worry about Filch, Mrs Norris or Snape. Like all plans, this one had to be perfected before it was executed, and this plan was going to be perfect.

~*•°•*~

In the meantime, Abby tried her best to stay out of everyone's way and out of trouble. Staying out of everyone's way was proving to be the most difficult since people were actively seeking her out. Most of them all did the same thing, whether it be making fun of her family or Abby herself. There was no escaping it. Things hadn't even been this bad following the immediate aftermath of her duel with Merula, so Abby wondered what had changed to make people dislike her so much.

As part of her plan to fix the damage that she had done, Abby walked into Potions with the intent of trying to smooth things over with Professor Snape. Abby knew that the grudgy Potions Master would most likely never like her no matter how much sucking up she did, but she could at least try and make an effort with him.

"Professor, I just want to apologise for duelling on school grounds," Abby apologised.

"Do you really mean that apology, Selwyn?" Snape asked.

"Not really, no," Abby admitted, deciding that it was best to be honest than to lie to him.

"Don't give an apology you don't mean, Selwyn. Now get to your seat immediately," Snape ordered.

Not wanting to rile him up even more, Abby walked over to her usual seat next to Rowan before they were joined by Merula. Abby certainly hadn't forgotten how Merula had sabotaged her first potion, so she was definitely going to keep an eye on the other girl.

"Have you told anyone about what Snape and Filch said?" Merula demanded.

"Is this really the best place to talk about this with one of the subjects in the same room?" Abby asked.

"Answer me, Selwyn," Merula growled.

"Fine, I told Rowan," Abby replied.

"You really are an idiot, Selwyn," Merula muttered. "Thankfully, your idiot friend won't ruin my chances of getting inside that room."

"I'll have you know that Rowan is probably more smarter than you could ever be," Abby remarked. "Why are you even after the Cursed Vaults anyways?"

"It's none of your business," Merula said.

"My brother was searching for the Cursed Vaults and now you're after them too, so I think that kind of makes it my business too," Abby argued.

"And he failed because he came from a family of failures," Merula smirked. "Now shut up, and pretend to study before Snape catches us talking. You wouldn't want to lose Slytherin anymore house points, Selwyn."

"Those were all thanks to you," Abby muttered.

The lesson was spent making the Herbicide Potion, and Abby did her best to keep one eye on her cauldron at all times to make sure that Merula didn't try sabotaging her again. Thankfully the lesson went on without Merula actively trying to get Abby into trouble or anything disastrous happening. When the opportunity to gain more House Points appeared when Merula hadn't stirred her potion, Abby decided to take it.

"You should stir your potion two more times," Abby suggested.

"Excuse me?" Merula balled her fists.

"Professor Snape said to stir the potion seven times, clockwise. You only stirred it five times," Abby said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Merula growled.

"Shockingly, in this solitary instance, Selwyn is right," Snape commented as he approached them. "Even a reckless, incompetent fool like you can become a middling witch by following instructions, Selwyn. Ten points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Abby smirked, giving Merula an I-Told-You-So look.

"You can thank me by getting out of my presence, Selwyn. Class dismissed," Snape ordered.

To Abby's amusement, her helping Merula only seemed to infuriate the other girl. At least this way Abby had earned Slytherin some points so perhaps Felix might not be so grouchy. Maybe the rest of Slytherin might not even despise her so much.

When it came time for their spare lesson, Abby spent it tutoring Ben how to fly. By doing that, Abby would hopefully earn some extra points from Madam Hooch and Ben would overcome his fear of flying so either way, it was a win-win scenario. Of course, Ben's crippling fear didn't help as he grimaced at every bit of information that he read about flying. Once she finished tutoring him, Abby took Ben to the Clock Tower Courtyard for the next phase of her plan.

"Are you ready to overcome your fear of flying, Ben?" Abby asked the nervous Gryffindor.

"Almost certainly not," Ben replied.

"So you're alright with the plan?" Abby clarified.

"How is the Levitation Charm supposed to help me overcome my fear of flying?" Ben wondered.

"Because Wingardium Leviosa would be the perfect thing to get you comfortable with the idea of flying. All it will take is a swish and flick and you'll be good to go," Abby answered.

"I think you underestimate my cowardice," Ben said.

"You just need to take things one step at a time, Ben. The first step to flying is floating. If Wingardium Leviosa works as planned, you should levitate a few feet off the ground," Abby reassured him.

"And what if it doesn't work as planned?" Ben voiced his concerns that were already obvious on his face.

"You'll find that falling is nothing to be afraid of," Abby stated. "Now let's do this.  _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

On her chant, Ben slowly floated into the air and acted accordingly to the way Abby's wand moved. To Ben's surprise, he didn't even freak out as he floated around in the air. But the look of relief on his face when his feet touched the ground again didn't go unnoticed.

"You did it, Ben! You're one step closer to overcoming your fear of flying!" Abby exclaimed.

"And even closer to realising my fear of getting sick in public. You'll have to excuse me, Abby, Ben commented.

"Are you rushing to the Training Grounds because you're so excited for flying class?" Abby asked.

"You don't want to know what I'm about to do," Ben murmured before taking off.

Deciding that it was better to just leave Ben for now, Abby did just that. With her plan for Ben coming into fruition, it was time for Abby to put in the finishing touches of her plan for the room down the corridor. Based on the way things were looking, it seemed like Abby would be needing a little outside help to achieve this mission.

~*•°•*~

Once her plan was formed, Abby waited until breakfast the following day so that she could tell Rowan. They made sure to sit as far away from their other Slytherin's so that nobody could hear them.

"Now, what's this master plan that you've got?" Rowan asked eagerly.

"Okay," Abby glanced around to make sure that nobody could hear her before she began. "First, I need to get past Mrs Norris. If I give her a Sleeping Draught, it will knock her out just long enough to let us by. Second, I'll need a way to get inside the door. The Unlocking Charm,  _Alohomora,_ should do the trick. Third, I'll need the Knockback Jinx,  _Flipendo_. It'll help me escape if I get trapped inside the room like I did with the Devil's Snare."

"How are you going to get a Sleeping Draught, though? If you ask Snape to help you brew one, he'll get suspicious," Rowan wondered.

"I'm not going to ask Snape. I'm going to ask Penny Haywood," Abby stated.

"Penny Heywood?" Rowan gasped. "She's the most popular girl in our year. If not, in all of Hogwarts."

"She offered to help me if I ever needed anything, and according to her she's pretty good with potions," Abby said.

"She's being modest. If anyone in our year knows how to brew a Sleeping Draught, it's her," Rowan commented. "But what about Filch?"

"I was inspired by you love of research, and decided to do some of my own research on Filch. I think I can throw him off my tail," Abby smirked.

"You're explaining this like you're going to be going on your own," Rowan crossed her arms.

"That's because I will be doing this on my own. I can't ask you to risk getting in trouble for me, Rowan," Abby replied.

Rowan laughed, "Of course you can ask me to get in trouble for you, Abby! Like I said, I've always wanted to go on my own Hogwarts mystery."

"If you're sure..." Abby trailed off.

"I'm sure," Rowan nodded. "But just to be on the safe side, I think we should bring one more person with us."

"We should be able to handle ourselves," Abby argued.

"Are you sure about that, Abby? We're only two first-years going up against who knows what. We'd be better off going in there with some extra support," Rowan insisted.

"Then how about we take Penny with us? She'll already be helping my make a Sleeping Draught so we might as well bring her along for the ride," Abby replied.

Rowan didn't look convinced, "I think Penny would be a good choice too and she might've said that she'd help you, but that would be asking a lot of her, Abby."

"She'll be able to help us in ways that we won't be able to help ourselves. Penny's the perfect choice," Abby insisted.

"Knowing the gossip around Hogwarts could help keep us out of trouble, and her potions skills could help with whatever is inside the door," Rowan agreed. "Good luck, Abby. Just let me know when you're ready to execute the plan."

Looking over at the Hufflepuff table, Abby could see that Penny was surrounded by dozens of friends so she knew that she'd have to get the other girl alone when she asked for her favour. It almost made Abby feel inferior to Penny, since she had all of her friends while Abby just had Rowan. She wasn't sure if she could classify Ben as a friend yet.

It was time for the morning post to arrive and as per usual, dozens of owls flew into the Great Hall to deliver their messages. To Abby's complete surprise, she spotted Nightingale as one of the many owls flying around. She almost thought that there had been a mistake when her owl landed right in front of her because since she had started Hogwarts, nobody had sent her a letter or a parcel. This didn't go unnoticed by Merula who decided to use it to take a jibe at Abby.

"Selwyn's got mail? Who would even want to write to her?" Merula remarked as she went to take Abby's package.

"Keep your greasy paws off my mail, Snyde," Abby growled as she snatched the package before Merula could reach it. Since Merula was going to keep on calling Abby by her last name, then she was going to do the same to her.

"What is it?" Rowan asked curiously as Abby tore off the letter attached to the small package.

"I don't know," Abby murmured as she opened the envelope and read the penmanship that she couldn't recognise.

_Selwyn,_

_This ring is a family heirloom from your mother's side. It was passed down from generations and she wanted you to have it. There is also a matching necklace that you may only receive if you continue to behave. Do not think that I'm not watching you because I am._

_Take care,_

_A watcher._

All Abby could do was stare at the piece of paper in surprise. Her attention then turned to the small package that had come with the letter and she assumed that this had to be the ring that was mentioned. Sure enough, inside was a small ring with a blue crystal on top. The ring itself looked like a bunch of leaves tied together, but it was still beautiful, nonetheless. It was even more beautiful than her father's family ring.

"Oh, it's so pretty," Rowan gushed.

"It is," Abby agreed as she slid it into her right ring finger next to her father's ring that Jacob had given her when he left.

Unlike the other ring, this ring just felt so… right on her finger, like it was meant to be there. Abby couldn't help but wonder how it had been from her mothers side of the family, yet she had never seen it before just like she had never seen the writing on the letter that had come with it. The letter had almost creeped her out, since it said that someone was watching her but she didn't know who.

"Who's the watcher?" Rowan wondered.

"I don't know," Abby murmured.

As happy as she was to have the ring, this whole thing felt a little bit weird, like she was missing something. But Abby would worry about that later because right now, she had a plan to put into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the grand scheme begins with another added mystery to the mix. It would seem as though Abby has someone’s eye on her, but she doesn’t know who and won’t know who for a long time. The story isn’t really following the plan that I had originally set for it, since it now has the story finishing at thirteen chapters rather than 14. But I like this outcome better and I hope you guys do too, so tell me what you think.


	11. Brewing Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the time that I’ve been AWOL on this story, I’ve been getting more into the Harry Potter archive and I’m currently writing a short Dramione fic so if you’re a Dramione shipper or love all things Harry Potter, then go ahead and check it out.

To get Penny’s attention, Abby had written the other girl a letter asking her to meet in the Artefact Room. Abby had already gotten the appropriate ingredients ready after raiding the Potions Classroom when Snape was trying to appease Dumbledore after their DADA professor bailed on them. If Penny didn’t show up, then Abby was prepared to make the Sleeping Draught on her own even if it was a little too advanced for her. As time ticked by and Penny failed to show, Abby was beginning to prepare herself to make the potion on her own. That was until the door opened and Penny walked in.

“Hi, Abby,” Penny greeted her with a smile. “You said that you wanted to meet me in here about something important?”

“Yes, I do,” Abby nodded. “I require your potion making abilities, Penny. I need to brew a Sleeping Draught and that’s not exactly something that I feel confident in making on my own.”

“Why do you need to brew a Sleeping Draught?” Penny wondered.

“If I tell you, will you _promise_ not to tell _anyone_ about it?” Abby asked.

Penny shrugged, “I guess.”

“Okay, well, it’s a bit _secretive_ so nobody can know about it,” Abby said in a low voice before telling Penny her plan. “Basically, I need to brew a Sleeping Draught so that I can give it to Mrs Norris so that she’ll fall asleep and I can sneak into the corridor on the West Towers.”

“How exciting! And don’t worry, Abby. I won’t tell anyone about what we’re doing. It’s refreshing to be acknowledged for my potion making skills rather than my popularity,” Penny smiled.

“That’s exactly why I wanted you to be the person for this job, Penny. Because I trust you to do your best and keep this between you and me,” Abby reassured her.

“Then why don’t I teach you a thing or two about potions?” Penny grinned.

That’s exactly what Penny did, since the next hour or so was spent brewing the Sleeping Draught. For the most part, Abby made it herself while Penny took her through the steps. It was hard not to notice the difference between Penny’s way of instructing things in comparison to Professor Snape’s. Penny was quick to correct Abby on anything she did wrong without a fuss while Snape always berated students whenever they messed up in class.

When the potion was ready, Abby took out a flask and put the contents into it so that it could be used on Mrs Norris. Abby used to take a small dose of Sleeping Draught when she was younger since she always had trouble sleeping, but Abby didn’t plan on having any of it now since it was only for Mrs Norris.

“Well done, Abby,” Penny praised her work. “You could knock a Romanian Longhorn on its tail with that batch of Sleeping Draught.”

“Thanks, Penny. I really do appreciate the help,” Abby said.

“You’re very welcome, Abby. I can’t wait to hear how this all turns out!” Penny grinned.

“Actually, you might not have to _hear_ how it turns out…” Abby trailed off before making her offer. “If you come with Rowan and I to the corridor.”

“You want _me_ to come with _you_?” Penny gasped. “Why?”

“Because you know your way around the castle with the gossip and you’re good at potions so Rowan and I could use another set of skills with us, especially since I don’t even have that many friends to help me,” Abby replied.

“You consider us friends?” Penny asked.

Abby shrugged, “Acquaintances at least. You’re one of the few people who don’t shoot me dirty looks or spread rumours about me. I trust you, Penny and my trust is hard to come by.”

“Well, that trust certainly won’t be broken, Abby. You can count on me,” Penny promised. “But can we count on your plan though? I want to help, but I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Penny. As far as I’ve planned, this plan is foolproof unless the unlikely event of something going wrong happens,” Abby reassured her. “And if we get caught, I will take the blame without any fuss. I’ll make sure that you and Rowan don’t get in trouble. In fact, I already have a pre-prepared lie to sue if I need to.”

“If you’re a Slytherin you must be good at lying then,” Penny remarked. “If you believe in this plan, then I believe in it too. Just let me know when to meet and I’ll be there.”

Satisfied that she had Penny on board and that she could be trusted, Abby told Penny the full details of her plan and that only made Penny even more ready for it. In fact, Abby would go as far to say that Penny was excited about what they were going to do despite the potential risks. And if things did get too risky, then Abby was fully prepared to take the hit if she had to.

~*•°•*~

When it was time for Flying Class to begin, Abby scouted out Ben on the Training Grounds to see if he was ready to face his fear. He did seem nervous, but not nervous to the extent where he looked like he was going to be sick or anything, so Abby took that as a good sign.

“Hey, Ben,” Abby greeted him. “Are you ready to face your fear of flying?”

“I think so. I’m still anxious, but I couldn’t have come this far without you,” Ben smiled. “I can’t believe I’m not afraid of flying!”

“Well, let’s see if you can show me what you can do,” Abby said.

Madam Hooch’s loud voice caught their attention so everyone got into their positions and the lesson began. When it came to Flying Class, Abby never really put that much thought into it. She didn’t really care for flying, since it wasn’t one of the lessons that she enjoyed. Out of the seven classes that Abby took, her least favourite were History of Magic and Flying. Abby might’ve liked History of Magic a little more if their professor wasn’t a complete snooze fest. Everyone took that class and used it to do whatever they wanted to since Professor Binns always bored himself to sleep.

As for her other classes, Abby didn’t really care that much for Herbology or Defence Against the Dark Arts. Abby just didn’t like messing around with the plants and she found it quite boring as well, but a first-year Hufflepuff named Nymphadora Tonks always made it fun, just like she did for History of Magic. Defence Against the Dark Arts wouldn’t be ranked so low on Abby’s list if their first professor wasn’t so incompetent and useless. Abby hadn’t even bothered to learn their name, she just knew that it was a middle-aged man who had some kind of lisp which made listening to his lectures almost unbearable. Even Snape would’ve done a better job than him with his drawled out voice.

The other classes that she took didn’t really bother Abby at all. Potions was a middle-tier one, since Professor Snape often made it difficult to learn with his teaching methods, but Abby knew that she was coping better than some of the other people in her class were. At least Merula hadn’t tried sabotaging her again. Transfiguration and Charms were two of Abby’s best subjects, since she seemed to have Jacob’s ability to pick things up in Charms and had managed to impress Professor McGonagall with her quick wit. Astronomy was easily her favourite subject though, since Abby loved studying the stars every Wednesday. Sometimes she and Jacob would sit together in his room and they would watch the stars and give them their own names. Those were some of Abby’s fondest memories in her rather dismal childhood.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s get ready to fly!” Madam Hooch called out, snapping Abby out of her thoughts. She then went over to Ben, only to see that he was a complete mess of nerves now.

“I take it back, Abby. I’m still afraid of flying…” Ben stammered.

“You can do it, Ben. If you can handle being suspended in the air by a measly _wand_ , then you can handle flying on a broom. At least this way you’ll have control over yourself,” Abby reassured him. “And don’t you want to live up to your houses expectations? Any Gryffindor would be able to sore through those skies with no problem. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your house mates.”

“You’re right,” Ben sighed. “I’ll never be a true Gryffindor if I don’t get over my fear of flying. Besides, it’s not like it’s something I can avoid forever.”

“There’s the spirit,” Abby smirked.

“It’s time I took to the skies and made your time with me worth it,” Ben murmured.

“You can do it, Ben!” Rowan exclaimed as she approached them.

“Here goes nothing…” Ben trailed off.

Within seconds, Ben had summoned his broom into his hand and was preparing to mount it. After a moment of hesitation, the timid Gryffindor soared into the skies.

“I bet he crashes into the window,” Rowan remarked.

Abby rolled her eyes, “Oh, have a little more faith in him, Rowan.”

Their tutoring seemed to pay off since despite a few slip-ups along the way, Ben managed to make it through the sky without letting anything horrible happen to him. When he landed, Abby was quick to go over to him to see how he was doing and to her surprise, Ben didn’t seemed to be that spazzed out anymore.

“You did it, Ben. You lived up to your Gryffindor house. You did well,” Abby congratulated him.

“Thanks, Abby,” Ben smiled before his face fell. “But I think I can feel my lunch coming back up.”

“Then I better take a few steps back,” Abby said as Madam Hooch approached them.

“I must say, Mr Cooper, you surprised me with your abilities today. Where did you get this sudden burst of talent from?” Madam Hooch asked.

“Abby’s been helping me get over my fear of flying, Madam Hooch, and her plan worked brilliantly. I wouldn’t have been able to fly like I did today without her,” Ben grinned.

“Don’t forget to give yourself a little credit too, Ben. You were the one who had to overcome your fear. I just helped you along the way,” Abby said.

“You’ve certainly proven yourself to have a knack for helping out your classmates, Miss Selwyn. If only you had the same ambitions for flying like your brother did… He was an excellent Chaser, one of the best that Slytherin had had in years. Had he not been expelled, he very likely could’ve been captain,” Madam Hooch recalled.

“Jacob always did love Quidditch,” Abby murmured. Jacob would always recount his Quidditch matches to Abby when they saw each other and even though Abby didn’t care about the sport at all, she still listened with her attention fully on him.

“Ten points to Slytherin for your efforts in helping Mr Cooper and ten points to Gryffindor for Mr Cooper overcoming his fear. I hope to see more of this from the both of you,” Madam Hooch said before walking off.

“Thanks for that, Abby. I wouldn’t have been able to get those House Points without your help,” Ben smiled.

“I should be thanking you as well. I wouldn’t have been able to get mine without helping you,” Abby remarked.

“Well, if you ever need my help in anything, just let me know. It’s the least I can do after how you’ve helped me,” Ben offered.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Abby said.

Now that her plan with Ben had been a success, all Abby had to do was succeed in getting down that corridor and into that room. It would soon be time for Abby to put her plan into action, and for her sake, Abby was hoping that the plan would go off without a hitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter turned out shorter than I had anticipated. I’d originally planned to get the plan going by the end of it, but I decided to save that for the next chapter where it’ll all go down, so that’s something to look forward to. In the meantime, check out my Dramione fic titled Making Amends and I’ll see you guys next chapter.


	12. Inside the Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With two chapters to go, the story’s just starting to heat up as it gets to the main event of the First Year. I hope you guys have been enjoying the story and if you are, let me know!

Knowing that what she as about to do was potentially going to get her into trouble didn’t stop Abby from wanting to do it in any way. Besides, she would only get in trouble if she got caught and Abby certainly didn’t plan on getting caught. To avoid getting caught together and blowing the entire plan, Abby had decided to meet up with Penny and Rowan near the corridor separately. As she got closer, Abby could see Rowan approaching Penny so all she had to do was join them. That was until she managed to cross paths with the caretaker, Mr Filch.

“Just what do you think _you’re_ doing?” Filch demanded.

“Oh, thank goodness I found someone,” Abby said, already coming up with a lie in her head.

“Why?” Filch drawled.

“You know Peeves, right?” Abby started.

“Of course I’ve heard of that filthy poltergeist. He’s caused more trouble than your brother ever did. He was one of the nastiest rule-breakers that this school ever had. You know, I was sad to see him go,” Filch said.

“You were?” Abby repeated.

“I was. I missed my chance to hang him from the ceiling by his wrists. Maybe I’ll get the chance with you instead,” Filch snarled.

“You won’t get that chance with me. I’m not like my brother,” Abby stated.

“You’re a liar is what you are. Mrs Norris saw two Slytherin girls lurking about the corridor and I’m assuming that one of them was you,” Filch accused.

“You shouldn’t make accusations without having any proof other than the ‘words’ of a cat,” Abby crossed her arms.

“Don’t you dare disrespect Mrs Norris!” Filch hissed.

“Instead of worrying about me, you should be worrying about Peeves,” Abby said.

“Why?” Filch narrowed his eyes.

“I overheard him talking about sabotaging your office with all of the prank items that you’ve confiscated by setting them off the next time you open your door. Mrs Norris could get hurt,” Abby lied.

“Why should I trust your word given your family’s history?” Filch growled.

“I just thought that you would know Peeves enough to know that he’s always up to no good. Even if you don’t believe me, would you really want to risk Mrs Norris getting hurt and damaging your office?” Abby tried again.

Filch glared at her, “I can’t let that happen. But if you’re lying about this, I’ll get you hung by my shackles before nightfall!”

“Better get running then,” Abby said.

There was no hiding the look of distaste on Filch’s face as he gave her one last glare. Abby didn’t know if Filch would stick to his threat, but Abby certainly wasn’t going to let some mangy old squib get the better of her. And she certainly wasn’t prejudiced against Filch because he was a squib – that would only be because he’s just a mean person – Abby just knew that she would have no reason to let him get the best of her.

It was now time for Abby to face her first Hogwarts mystery, and she had no idea what was awaiting her behind that corridor. Seeing Penny and Rowan there certainly gave Abby confidence, and she was just hoping that Merula wouldn’t get in the way. As expected, Mrs Norris was guarding the corridors with a bowl beside her.

“I can’t believe that we’re doing this!” Penny exclaimed excitedly.

“Don’t get too excited. We don’t want Mrs Norris to spot us,” Abby warned them.

“Look, she’s going to the bowl!” Rowan whispered.

“I mixed some milk with it so that she’d take the bait,” Penny grinned. “And I brought any potion that I could make to help us.”

“Let’s hope we don’t need them,” Abby muttered.

“This is our first real Hogwarts mystery! I don’t even care if I don’t have to use any of the knowledge that I received from extensively researching this side of the castle! So don’t be such a downer, Abby!”” Rowan exclaimed as she threw her arms around Abby and Penny.

“Yay!” Abby cheered sarcastically.

“Look, she’s out cold!” Penny pointed at Mrs Norris.

“Well, that happened quickly,” Abby shrugged.

“Let’s go!” Rowan suggested eagerly.

“Alright, Penny. You keep guard in case Snape or Filch comes back while I use _Alohomora_ to unlock that door and Rowan, you just need to be prepared in case anything goes wrong. We can absolutely _not_ risk getting into trouble,” Abby said.

“Brilliant plan, Abby! If this whole wizarding thing doesn’t work out, you should totally consider a career in burglary,” Rowan proclaimed.

Abby snorted, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

With the first part of their plan officially underway, the trio went to approach the door. Just as Abby cast the _Alohomora_ charm, she heard someone casting _Flipendo_ from behind her. They were all knocked down before Abby even had time to react, and she quickly became enraged when she saw Merula standing there triumphantly.

“Merula! I knew that you were up to no good!” Abby snarled.

“Oh, please,” Merula rolled her eyes. “I’d say that makes two of us, Selwyn. But only an idiot like you would trust a Hufflepuff to keep watch. I was wondering how to get past that nasty cat and through the door. Turns out, all I had to do was follow you and your two idiot friends to let you do the work for me.”

“That’s another way of saying that you needed out help,” Abby remarked.

“I don’t need or want your stupid help!” Merula seethed. “A Cursed Vault could be in that door, and if anyone’s going to be the first person to get their hands on it, it’s going to be me!”

By the time Merula had finished her little speech, she’d already entered the room and shut the door behind her. After recovering from the Knockback Jinx, Abby offered her hand to Penny and Rowan who happily took it.

“That brat! We’re gonna make her pay for this. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going in there to stop Merula. Who knows what she could do with whatever is inside that room?” Abby said.

“There won’t be enough healing potion in the world to help Merula once I’m through with her,” Penny declared.

Abby raised her eyes, “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the revenge type for being a Hufflepuff, Penny.”

“I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?” Penny grinned.

“That you are,” Abby muttered.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Abby quickly stormed past that door and into whatever was behind it. Abby was instantly greeted with a chilly feeling as well as the most satisfying thing that she had ever seen in her life. Standing there, trapped in some kind of ice was none other than Merula.

“This is too good!” Rowan laughed.

“What happened?” Penny asked.

“The ice st-stuck m-me t-to the f-floor, and k-keeps sp-spreading over me!” Merula exclaimed.

“It’s the ice from my vision,” Abby muttered.

“It’s s-spreading all o-over m-me! D-do s-something before I j-jinx all of y-you!” Merula demanded.

“I don’t know, I kind of like seeing you like this. I feel like the ice really compliments your cold personality,” Abby taunted.

It was extremely satisfying seeing the panicked look on Abby’s face, and she was seriously considering just leaving Merula there after the way she had left Abby at the mercy of the Devil’s Snare. That was, until Abby suddenly heard a loud crunch from behind her and turned to see that the door was now encased in ice.

“The door! It’s frozen shut!” Abby exclaimed.

“And s-so am I!” Rowan called out just as Abby saw the ice trapping Penny.

“Hold on!” Abby reassured them.

Pulling out her wand, Abby cast _Flipendo_ against the ice before it broke free on Rowan before doing the same to Penny. Their attention then turned back to Merula who was still shivering amongst the ice.

“What should we do with her?” Rowan asked.

“I say we should just leave her there,” Abby suggested.

“D-don’t! S-save me!” Merula yelled.

“We can’t just leave her to freeze to death,” Penny sighed.

“Why can’t we? I think we can,” Abby drawled before getting pinched by Penny. “Ugh, fine. Just know that this is going to hurt, Merula.”

“J-just d-do _it_!” Merula demanded.

“ _Flipendo_ ,” Abby chanted.

“Ow!” Merula hissed as the ice broke and she fell backwards. “You c-couldn’t have b-been more gentler?”

Abby rolled her eyes, “Oh, please. You should consider yourself lucky that I even saved you at all after you left me at the mercy of the Devil’s Snare.”

“You did it because you’re a good person, Abby. You’re better than Merula,” Penny smiled.

“If you see it that way,” Abby muttered. “Now we’ve gotta cast _Flipendo_ against the door.”

Acting in unison, the trio chanted the Knockback Jinx repeatedly against the ice, only for nothing to happen. When that was the case, Abby was beginning to get really frustrated.

“It’s not working!” Abby growled.

“I have an idea…” Penny trailed off nervously.

“What?” Rowan wondered.

“I’m about to see if I know how to correctly brew a Strengthening Solution,” Penny replied before taking out a flask and drinking its contents.

“Well?” Abby asked expectantly.

“Stand back,” Penny said as she used her newly found strength to pull open that door.

“You did it, Penny!” Rowan cheered.

“Ugh, this is so humiliating,” Merula groaned. “Fancy getting saved by Khanna and Selwyn, but a _Hufflepuff_ too?”

“Gee, what a way to show appreciation to three people who didn’t have to save your sorry butt,” Abby remarked.

“Whatever,” Merula drawled. “I don’t need you fools anymore. I’m going to find the _real_ Cursed Vaults on my own.”

“Suit yourself,” Abby muttered.

Despite Merula claiming to be the most powerful witch at Hogwarts, Abby knew that there was no way that Merula would be able to do this on her own. The fact that Merula had let Abby, Penny and Rowan do all the hard work was enough proof of that.

“Hey, what’s that?” Penny suddenly asked as she pointed at something on the wall near the door.

“I… don’t know,” Abby murmured.

“It looks like some kind of runes,” Rowan stated as she read what was there. “I’ve got it memorised now so we can get out of here and decipher them later.”

“That’s a smart mind you’ve got there, Rowan,” Penny complimented her.

“Just like you’ve got a few wits with positions,” Rowan smiled.

“And Abby’s the power behind us,” Penny added.

“So I guess the three of us make a pretty good trio,” Abby commented.

“It looks like this trio is going to be solving some more mysteries together if these runes are anything to go by!” Rowan exclaimed excitedly.

“Now let’s get out of here before we freeze to death,” Penny suggested.

“Good idea,” Rowan agreed.

As much as Abby knew it was pointless, all she wanted to do was stay in that room and see what other secrets it had to hide. There was obviously something important about it, and contrary to what Merula said, Abby had a slight feeling that it was something to do with the Cursed Vaults. She didn’t like that thought at all, since Abby wanted nothing to do with this mess after how things had turned out for Jacob.

“Do you think that Merula was right in saying that it wasn’t a real Cursed Vault?” it was Rowan’s question that snapped Abby out of her thoughts.

Penny shrugged, “I wouldn’t know. I hope that the ice doesn’t continue to spread through the castle. More people could get in trouble like we did.”

“At least whatever was inside the room wasn’t a Cursed Vault. If it was, there would’ve been some kind treasure or something else besides a few pointless runes. And Rowan, if I were you, I’d forget them instead of wasting your time with that nonsense,” Abby said.

“What? Why?” Rowan asked.

“Because even if the Cursed Vaults are real, it’s not something that we want to get involved with. Jacob did, and look what happened to him,” Abby murmured.

Penny narrowed her eyes, “Then why did you come up with this plan to find whatever was inside that room?”

“Because I didn’t want Merula to get whatever was inside of it. Nothing was there, and I doubt that Merula has any other leads since she needed us to do the hard work for her. And if she does start acting up like this again, then we’ll just report her to the professors. If she gets expelled, then it’ll be so much better for us,” Abby explained.

“You really don’t want to find out what mystery is lurking in the castle?” Rowan pouted.

“No, because there isn’t any mystery or Cursed Vaults. If there was, there would’ve been some of treasure or anything other than a few runes,” Abby said.

“Then how does that explain the ice?” Penny pointed out.

“I don’t know,” Abby shrugged. “Maybe there is something going on that isn’t anything to do with the Cursed Vaults. Nobody really knows anything about them since everything that’s been said has all been rumours.”

“But what about the conversation that you heard between Filch and Snape and your vision?” Rowan asked.

“Whatever that was, I can’t explain. But there has to be ways for that to be given to me other than some divine intervention that I refuse to believe exists. As for Filch and Snape, they probably have no idea what they’re talking about because I know that this might come as a surprise to you Rowan, but sometimes professors are _wrong_ ,” Abby argued.

“Come on, Abby. Where’s your Slytherin ambition?” Rowan insisted.

“My Slytherin ambition is focused on keeping myself and my family out of anymore trouble than it’s already been in. I just want to have seven quiet years at Hogwarts without getting myself involved into any kind of mystery,” Abby proclaimed.

“That’s _boring_ ,” Rowan drawled.

“It’s what I want. So you can get yourself involved in this mess if you want but I don’t want any part of it,” Abby said.

If anything, Abby was trying to convince herself more than Rowan with what she was saying. Abby had no idea what all of this mess meant and she really didn’t want to figure it out since doing so would open up a whole other can of worms that Abby just didn’t want to deal with it. She’d hope that this whole first year had been a fluke and that there would be nothing mysterious going on next year, but Abby really had no idea what was going on. Abby just didn’t want herself to be involved for her own self-preservation.

“I’m definitely going to try researching these runes over the break to see if I can find anything,” Rowan stated.

“Don’t, because you won’t. There is no such thing as the Cursed Vaults and you really shouldn’t be wasting your time with whatever this mess is. Now I suggest that we all head back to our Common Rooms before we get into any trouble,” Abby ordered.

“That’s something you can’t seem to avoid getting into, Selwyn.”

Instant dread was all Abby felt as she recognised that voice belonging to Professor Snape. Slowly, Abby turned around and her dread only intensified when she saw Professor Dumbledore standing beside him with Filch glaring at them.

“Professor Snape,” Abby acknowledged him. “And Professor Dumbledore.”

“Would the three of you care to explain why you were caught exiting the forbidden corridor?” Dumbledore asked calmly.

“W-we weren’t up to a-anything. Nope… n-nothing at all,” Rowan stammered.

“For a Slytherin, you are a horrible liar, Khanna. Along with Selwyn, you two are even more of a disgrace to our house,” Snape growled.

“They’re certainly up to something! Selwyn lied about that filthy poltergeist messing with my office to trick me!” Filch yelled.

“I’m sure that there is a story for everyone here,” Dumbledore stated.

“The story is that you’re _all_ going to be in serious trouble,” Snape seethed.

Abby sighed as she stepped forward, a lie already prepared. “It’s my fault, Professor Dumbledore.”

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, “Would you care to elaborate on this?”

“I wanted to check out the corridor on my own, but Penny caught me sneaking around. She went to get Rowan to talk me out of it, but I wouldn’t listen to them,” Abby lied without missing a beat, causing both Penny and Rowan to look at each other in surprise.

“And what did you find?” Dumbledore inquired.

“A room full of ice. I used the _Alohomora_ charm to get me inside, but I got trapped by the ice. If Penny and Rowan hadn’t come after me, I probably would’ve frozen to death,” Abby replied.

“That would’ve been a better fate than hanging by my shackles,” Filch snarled.

“I see,” Dumbledore pondered, though Abby had a slight suspicion that he wasn’t buying what she was selling. “I am afraid that I’m going to have to take away fifty house points for your irresponsible and dangerous actions. As for Miss Khanna, she can take seventy-five points for Slytherin and Miss Haywood can take fifty for Hufflepuff for their heroic actions.”

Based on the looks on Penny and Rowan’s faces, they were obviously surprised by Dumbledore’s actions. But it didn’t take Abby too long to figure out that instead of punishing them when he knew they were lying; he gave Rowan fifty points to make up for those that Abby had lost and he couldn’t not do the same for Penny. It was a smart move on his part, and she had a feeling that Dumbledore also knew that she was aware of the intention behind his actions.

“I will of course be informing your Prefect about your actions before we take the appropriate action with the rest of your punishment, Miss Selwyn,” Dumbledore said.

“I understand,” Abby nodded.

“Now do as you were doing and return to your Common Rooms immediately,” Dumbledore ordered.

“Yes sir,” Rowan squeaked out.

Since the Hufflepuff and Slytherin Common Room’s were in the dungeons, the three girls headed there together with Penny and Rowan going over everything that had just happened. All Abby could think about was what this was going to mean for her, since she knew that Felix obviously wasn’t going to be pleased with her irresponsibility losing Slytherin another load of House Points. Then there was the fact that Abby didn’t want anything to do with the Cursed Vaults despite taking the blame for Penny and Rowan, but it had been the right thing to do.

“Thanks for bailing us out of trouble, Abby,” Penny smiled.

“I can’t believe the amount of House Points that Dumbledore gave us for breaking the rules” Rowan exclaimed.

Abby shrugged, “It was only right for me to take the heat for you guys after I got you involved in this – which I won’t be doing again. As for the House Points, it was clear that I had to be punished in some way but I think Dumbledore didn’t want me to be punished too much since he gave Rowan an extra dose of House Points.”

“This should hopefully put us back into the good graces with the other Slytherins,” Rowan piped up.

“Don’t remind me. I just know that I’m gonna get yet another lecture from Felix once he hears about this,” Abby groaned.

“I’ll be there to tell him where to shove it!” Rowan grinned.

“Thanks, Rowan. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that,” Abby muttered, imagining the look on Felix’s face if Rowan actually said that to him.

“Well, I’m gonna head off to my Common Room now so I’ll catch up with you guys later,” Penny said.

After saying goodbye to Penny, Abby and Rowan returned to their own Common Room where they were once again ignored by their fellow Slytherins. There was no doubt in Abby’s mind that people wouldn’t be ignoring her once word spread about what she had been up to. At least she had managed to contribute some kind of House Points towards Slytherin despite losing a heap of them. In fact, the only downside to what had happened was that Merula hadn’t frozen to death in the ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first mystery has been conquered and I’m taking my own approach to this with Abby’s intentions. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want anything to do with the Cursed Vaults despite looking for them – but her only reason here was to stop Merula from doing whatever she was up to. More will be revealed about Abby’s thoughts and her intentions as the story deviates from the original plot. I also took a different route with the House Points since I feel like MC was let off the hook a little too easy for all the rule-breaking she did. There’s just one more chapter left of Year One and then it’s all done and dusted before things really kick into gear in Year Two.


	13. Defining Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter for Year One. This year moved by a little bit quicker than I thought that it would but now it’s come to a close. There’s still so much more that I have planned for this series and I can’t wait for you guys to read it but now, the final chapter. Let me know what you guys thought of the first year and anything else that you’d like to see in what follows :).

Upon arriving back at the Slytherin Common Room, Abby and Rowan were immediately acknowledged by Felix. Based on the way he was heading towards them; Abby had a feeling that he’d found out about their rule-breaking and wasn’t happy at all with it.

“Look what you two have done now!” Felix exclaimed as he stormed towards them. “The brashness of your actions could rival a Gryffindors!”

“I’ll have you know that they were cleverly calculated actions that just didn’t work out the way that they were planned,” Abby remarked.

Felix sighed as he mumbled under his breath, “You’re going to be the death of me, Abby. Rowan, why don’t you leave us to discuss this matter? I’m sure that Abby will give you the appropriate details.”

“Good luck,” Rowan whispered to her before walking away.

“Is it true that you entered the forbidden corridor?” Felix demanded.

“Obviously it is if I got in trouble for it,” Abby shrugged.

“Watch your sarcasm,” Felix snapped. “What were you thinking?”

“Well, I knew that Merula Snyde wanted to go down that corridor and I wanted to stop her from finding anything dangerous. There wasn’t – at least nothing that she could use. Just a bunch of stupid ice that almost froze me to death,” Abby replied.

“You have to realise that your constant disregard for the rules is damaging Slytherins reputation! We were on our way to winning the House Cup before you got in the way of it! Now we’re tied with _Hufflepuff_!” Felix exclaimed.

“There’s more to life than the House Cup,” Abby stated.

“I don’t care, as the Slytherin Prefect, I want nothing but the best from our house and winning the House Cup is doing our best. Professor Dumbledore has requested for you to see him later this evening,” Felix said.

Abby groaned, “Why? He already took House Points from me.”

“Like I would know, but it probably has something to do with your constant disregard for the school rules,” Felix growled.

“We get it, I’m a rebel,” Abby muttered.

In no time at all, word had quickly spread about Abby’s involvement with what had happened in the corridor and sure enough, she was once again shunned by Slytherin. It gave Abby the perfect opportunity to speak with Dumbledore, but she really had no idea what he would have to speak with her about since everything should have been covered when he busted them in the corridor.

There were plenty of things that left Abby confused about Dumbledore. The man as a whole was confusing to her and plenty of others. It felt like Dumbledore had been judging her this entire year, waiting to see if she would turn out like her brother. Based on her consistent rule breaking, it would be safe for anyone to assume that Abby was like her brother. She was in some ways, Abby knew that. But when it came to the Cursed Vaults, Abby was nothing like him. She didn’t want anything to do with that nonsense.

When the time came, Abby braced herself for the worst punishment from Dumbledore. Taking away house points was nothing compared to anything else. She would be surprised if that’s all she got away with. Abby was fully expecting to be expelled, giving her father another reason to resent her.

“Professor Dumbledore,” Abby acknowledged him.

“Thank you for meeting with me, Abby,” Dumbledore said.

“Of course,” Abby muttered.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Dumbledore stated.

Abby narrowed her eyes, “Huh?”

“Doesn’t the quiet night, the crispy air just put your troubles into perspective?” Dumbledore asked.

“I guess,” Abby shrugged.

“I often come here whenever I need to make an important decision,” Dumbledore commented.

Abby sighed, “Like what you’re going to do to me? My Prefect said that you wanted to discuss everything that I’ve done wrong.”

“It would seem as though you are expecting a lecture, but I have a feeling that you have something else on your mind,” Dumbledore said.

“With everything that you’ve experienced and know about Hogwarts, do you think that the Cursed Vaults are real?” Abby questioned, interested to see what his perspective on it would be.

“Unfortunately, I do not know enough about the Cursed Vaults to give you a conclusion of my own. I have been trying to track down an expert in that field so that we can discover just what is happening inside these walls. Hogwarts is the home to many mysteries, but I recommend that you do not explore those that are dangerous. We can never know everything, but you will continue to learn more in your coming years at Hogwarts,” Dumbledore answered.

“So… you’re _not_ going to expel me?” Abby clarified.

“Not today,” Dumbledore smiled. “Though I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on the existence of the Cursed Vaults since after all, you have a connection to them like nobody else.”

“I think that they don’t exist. I think that the ice is a result of something else that’s going on inside these walls that like you said, hold many mysteries. I think that’s why Jacob supposedly went insane, trying to find something that didn’t exist. I won’t be going down that route,” Abby said.

“Then why were you really down that corridor?” Dumbledore wondered.

“Because I heard that something else was going on down there and I wanted to see for myself if they were real,” Abby lied, not wanting to dob Merula in just yet. “After seeing what I found, I’m confident that they don’t exist.”

“You’re confident, or you’re just trying to convince that to yourself?” Dumbledore inquired.

“Both,” Abby admitted.

“Then I would advise you to choose whatever path you believe in, Abby. Despite the many mistakes that you have made this year, you show great promise to be one of the best students that Hogwarts has seen in recent years. Whether or not that is for a good reason is yet to be seen, and I look forward to seeing the choices that you make,” Dumbledore said.

“So, that’s it?” Abby asked.

“I must warn you, Abby, that in the following years you must be more careful about the decisions you make and the actions that you take. I always believe that it is our choices that make us who we are, not our abilities,” Dumbledore stated.

Abby nodded, “I’ll remember that.”

“You would do good to do that, Abby. As the year comes to a close, I wish you luck for your exams and safe holidays. I look forward to seeing you next year,” Dumbledore said.

“Thank you, Professor,” Abby replied.

With that taken care of, the rest of Abby’s year became as normal as it could be. Of course there was still gossip about her and her brother, and that was something that would probably never change. But Abby was prepared to face any challenges that she had to face, and if anyone had a problem with her then she wasn’t afraid to square up to them. If anything, this whole first year experience proved to Abby how determined she could be.

Not to Abby’s surprise, the Slytherins continued to ostracise Abby and Rowan for the remainder of the year. She hoped that maybe in the years to come, that would change and that she would find herself a greater group of friends. Then came the exams, and of course Rowan finished at the top of their year and was beaming from ear to ear at her success. As for Abby, she managed to pass all of her subjects – not with the flying standards like Rowan did but her results had been good enough for her.

At last, the day that Abby had been dreading had arrived. It was the end of term Leaving Feast which meant that by the end of the day, Abby would be back at her room in the dreary place that was Selwyn Manor. She would be greeted by her father at the Hogwarts Express without a smile or warm words, and Abby was dreading having to go back to him. She would stay at Hogwarts if she could, but her father would never allow that.

“We’ve now reached the end of the year which means that its time for us to exchange the typical formalities and for me to award the highly anticipated House Cup,” Dumbledore called out to the Great Hall that fell silent at his booming voice. “In fourth place with six hundred and thirteen points, we have Ravenclaw.”

Seeing Ravenclaw in last wasn’t that big of a deal to Abby. None of the people that she had really connected with came from that house so she wasn’t obliged to feel pity for them – not that she would in any case.

“Tied for second we have Gryffindor and Slytherin at six hundred and ninety-eight points,” Dumbledore announced.

A tense silence filled the Great Hall, and Abby couldn’t help but find it ironic how the two most competitive houses had finished in a shared spot. The irony and the daggers that the two houses were exchanging  was too much for Abby to handle, so she unashamedly started cackling. This didn’t go unnoticed by anyone else who gave her odd looks, which Abby ignored like she always did.

“So that means the winners of the House Cup with seven hundred and eighteen points is Hufflepuff!” Dumbledore declared.

That announcement caused the Hufflepuff table to erupt with applause, and Abby couldn’t help but realise that if Penny hadn’t gotten those points from Dumbledore that Gryffindor and Slytherin would’ve been tied for first. Now _that_ would’ve been hilarious. Abby was almost disappointed that that didn’t happen just because of the potential riot that would’ve happened. There’s always next year.

“Congratulations, Hufflepuff. Your efforts have been rewarded. I look forward to seeing you all again next year for another year of learning and to those leaving us, I wish you good luck on your future endeavours. Enjoy the holidays!” Dumbledore said.

It was then that Abby realised that had he not ran away that Jacob would be among the Hogwarts students leaving for good. Wherever he was now, Abby could only hope that Jacob alright and that he really hadn’t gone insane.

Once the feast was finished, everyone left Hogwarts and boarded the train that would take them back to Britain. The same train that would take Abby to her less desired life. As much as Abby had struggled during her first year, Hogwarts had felt like more of a home than her own home ever had. Abby knew that it was because for the first time in a long time, it felt like she’d had a piece of Jacob with her.

Now she was going back to that dark and depressing place she was supposed to call a home while Abby longed to find a place that truly felt like what she desired. The only silver lining was that come September, she would be back at Hogwarts where it felt like her brother was still with her. Abby couldn’t wait for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Year One comes to an end. In the early plans Hufflepuff was always going to win the House Cup since they’re always criminally underrated and deserve more love, but it wasn’t until I was writing the chapter when I threw in the twist of Gryffindor and Slytherin tying for second. Could you imagine the chaos that would’ve erupted had they tied for first? With the first year of the story completed, I’m gonna take a few months to plan the next year which should be published sometime around October.


End file.
